Breakfast with the Blandfords

What Will Baby Bee?

2011-12-31T14:03:00.007-06:00

12/31/11

Since we live several states away we have never been able to tell our families in person that we are expecting. My sister-in-law Caley suggested that we have a gender reveal party when we were in Texas and we decided it would be a great way to include our family in this exciting season.

Caley and John visited a couple of weeks before we went to Amarillo for Thanksgiving. I am not crafty but I was so inspired by pinterest! We decided on the theme, What Will Baby Bee?, based on lots of cute pictures of other gender reveal parties. Caley and I created most of the decor for the party. I was impressed with our work and it was a fun adventure for us to work on together.

We actually had our sonogram the day Caley and John came into town, so we knew we couldn't find out baby's gender and not spill the beans while they were there. The tech wrote the gender on a card that we tucked away once we got home. (We did end up peaking before the party. We wanted to celebrate together before we celebrated with everyone else. We were very impressed that we never let baby's gender slip, even while spending the entire weekend with my family for Jeffrey's wedding.)

Now on to the pictures...

The Banner that we made. LOVED it!!!

Our table.

The theme was pregnancy cravings so we had sweet, salty, sour and crunchy treats.

Our drink station.

The adorable cake!

The Big Sister to Be! She's so cute!

The Boy Votes

The Girl Votes

The votes. We had everyone write their name suggestion under their vote.

Very Entertaining!

We wanted Caley to cut the cake since she was so instrumental in helping me plan and execute all the party details.

The cake is BLUE!!!!!

We are thrilled to announce that Bennett Edwin Blandford will be joining our little family in March. We are so excited to be having a little boy and can not wait to meet him! Only three months from today! The time is flying by!

More thoughts on the season

2011-12-21T10:41:00.004-06:00

Precious Friends,

Thank you so much for so many words of encouragement about my thoughts on Christmas post. It always feels good to know that you aren't alone and I was amazed at how many other Mommas are struggling with finding balance when celebrating the holidays.

Since I got so much feedback, I thought that I would share my thoughts thus far...

I don't remember where I first heard the idea but we are keeping all of our Christmas cards this year. We are going to keep them in a small bucket in Blythe's room and use them to pray with Blythe. She LOVES pictures and we thought it would be a great way to introduce praying for others.
My sister-in-law, Megan, shared this post. I love this idea! Blythe may need to be a little bigger but I love the concept.
I have seen this Advent Book idea on several sites. I'll be collecting books this year to do with Blythe next year.
Ashley posted this idea which I also plan on using. (Her blog is worth reading in general. You always leave being encouraged and challenged!)

I realize that we will probably take pieces of all of these ideas to fit our families needs. I'm already looking forward to next year as we celebrate the season with 2 little ones! We are making great memories this season and hope that you too are enjoying time spent with your families!

Ramblings

2011-12-07T12:26:00.003-06:00

12/7/11

If I ever figure out how to telepathically send blogs you will be blown away but how many times I post a day! :) I write what feels like millions of blog posts in my head but getting them written out seems to happen less frequently.

Here are a few of the crazy things rolling around in my head....

Are you currently involved in a Bible Study? If the answer is no, please look into BSF. I've just finished my lesson from this week and I love it. A hot cup of coffee, God's word and a sleeping Peanut! I really should begin every day like this.

I started BSF 5 years ago and took a year off when I was working foster care. My mom has done BSF most of my life and I totally understand why she loves it. I am challenged, I grow, I meet new friends and get to spend every week with other women studying God's word. It's such a blessing! And Peanut gets to come too. She hears scripture, spends time with other kids and learns songs about God. It brings joy to my heart to hear her sweet voice singing!

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I can not believe that Amarillo has now had snow TWICE!!! We've yet to have any and I'm ready to experience snow. Please remind me of this when it's mid February and the snow has been around for a month! I'm hoping that we have snow by Christmas. Always makes the holidays feel more festive.

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Since we are all friends here, I'm going to admit that I'm really struggling with how to celebrate Christmas well with Blythe. She still doesn't really "get" Christmas but I know that next year will be here before I know it. I was really encouraged and challenged by this post. I found some ideas to keep and others that weren't a fit for us. I know that what we decide for our family won't be for all families and I love that.

We are spending a lot of time in prayer and just talking through how we want to celebrate as a family. It's a new season of life. I long for Blythe to know and understand the true meaning of Christmas but I also grew up with great celebrations and traditions that I want to continue as well. I know that we will find a way to incorporate it all and I look forward to growing as a parent.

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I loaded tons of pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to Texas onto Facebook. We are trying to be much more intentional with our picture taking while with family. Already, we are so glad that we challenged ourselves! We have loved looking back at our most recent trips and Peanut loves to look at pictures of herself. :) The child has very healthy self esteem!

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Because no post is complete without a picture...

Blythe was an adorable flower girl. We were thrilled that she walked down the isle! My brillant mom had an Amarillo girl who is at Baylor watch Blythe during the actual ceremony so we could enjoy the wedding. Blythe stayed at the reception dancing until the Bride and Groom Left at 10. She enjoyed herself! And all the cupcakes that she snagged my flashing that smile.

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Blythe and I went to the doctor today and got to hear Baby's heartbeat. I hope to do a post soon about our gender reveal party! Baby is growing and is healthy with a storng heartbeat. We are so grateful for a healthy baby!

Hope that you are all doing well on this Wednesday! Enjoy the rest of your week and the joy of this holiday season!

Hello Blog land!

2011-11-07T13:08:00.004-06:00

11/7/11

Greetings Blog land! Clearly we've been missing from the blogoshpere but hope to get back on track. Here's some random snippets of life lately!

Lots has been going on but first off, I'd like to introduce you to Blandford Baby #2!

This is at 18 weeks. It was taken after a wedding rehearsal and I was tired! :) But we had yet to get a belly shot and felt it was necessary. I was horrible at taking regular pictures with Blythe and believe I'll be even worse this time around!

It's been a very different pregnancy than I had with Blythe. I've been much sicker and my sickness lasted several weeks longer. We are thankful that everything is going smoothly at this point and thrilled that we will soon be finding out the gender of this baby. We are at the half way point with this pregnancy and can't believe how fast the time is flying by! Baby is due at the end of March and we could not be more thrilled to be expanding our little family!

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Blythe is a BLAST! She's at such a fun age. She talks all the time, loves to sing and enjoys spending time with other kids (as long as Mommy isn't holding another kid!) She often points to my belly and her belly and says "Baby!" She is in for quite the shock when there's actually a baby at home! Initially she would say that the new baby was a girl not a boy. Now when asked she says that Mommy is not having a baby. :)

Here's a picture of her from Halloween.

She was so adorable as Elmo!

She didn't really understand the whole concept of Halloween. We enjoyed being in Amarillo to celebrate this year and our families enjoyed showing off their little Elmo as well.

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We are loving our new house and are finally starting to feel settled. We are slowly working on the house and if we ever get a room finished I'll get some pictures up. We had no idea how slow of a process it would be but we are really enjoying this new journey!

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I have started another job working at a local hospital in the ER. It's only a couple of shifts a month but it keeps the social work part of my brain engaged. It's a great place to work and I'm thrilled with the opportunity to use my social work skills. And it doesn't take me way from my family to do it. It's a win win situation!

29 by 29 Update

2011-07-19T22:10:00.001-05:00

As with most lists that I make, I'm always great at checking things off the list in the beginning. That's already the case with my 29 by 29 list. This month we had a new friend over for dinner (check one) and made homemade ice-cream for dessert (check 2). The ice cream was HORRIBLE, as in, I didn't even eat it, bad. I'm reworking the recipe and if I get a good solution I'll pass it on to you. It has SO much potential so I'm hoping i can salvage it.

The biggest thing checked off my list was a concert in Chicago. Currey is a great gift giver! He listens to random things I say and always gives me thoughtful and fun gifts. I knew that my parents were coming to town so I just got on Ticketmaster to see what might be happening when they were here. I was thrilled when I saw Matisyahu would be in town. Matisyahu is one of Currey's favorites so I gave him tickets for Father's Day.

I am not as big of him as Currey is but it was a fantastic show! Since my parents were here we got to stay the night in the city. It was a great get away as we were celebrating our anniversary a couple of days later. I'll leave you with a little Matisyahu....

Dancing Queen

2011-07-18T14:59:00.000-05:00

7/18/11

My parents were here this weekend. Their trip was planned so that they could come and help us get settled in our new house. None of us ever dreamed we wouldn't be in a house yet!

Thankfully, we were able to get a showing so they got to see our house. I don't think that they minded getting extra time with Miss Blythe. Unfortunately I had to work on Saturday but Currey, Blythe and my parents made a trip to the pool. Blythe loves music and dancing. Apparently she was entertaining the masses with her moves at the pool. I can't stop watching this video as it makes me giggle every time! She's one funny Peanut.

Dressing Up

2011-07-09T23:27:00.003-05:00

7-9-11

Blythe loves to wear our clothes. Most mornings while I get ready she follows me around putting anything around her neck that she can find. Shorts, t-shirts, jewelry and shoes she loves to put on all our things!

These are some pictures I snapped of her when she had put on one of my camisoles. She kept putting this necklace around her neck so I tied it on for her.

Yes...she is that cute!!

Love her sweet smiles!

She is always so proud of herself when she "gets dressed"

29 by 29

2011-07-02T20:58:00.002-05:00

7-2-11

I recently celebrated a birthday and I have been waiting to do this for several months! Several of the blogs I read have a these lists and I love the idea. So I made my own list. 29 things to do before my 29th birthday. I hope to update you all along the way. It should be fun!

So...here's my list.

1. Take a sewing class

2. Read a book a month

3. Write a recipe a month

4. Host a swap party

5. Have a new friend or a family over once a month for dinner

6. Send one piece of “snail mail” a month

7. Plant a garden

8. Make a bow board for all of Blythe’s hair bows

9. Take Blythe to the Zoo

10. Go away for an entire weekend with just Currey (and Youth Retreats Don’t Count!)

11. Take a cooking class with Currey

12. Update my blog weekly

13. Have dinner at Meson Sebeka

14. Take cookies to a neighbor

15. Purge my cookbook collection

16. Put pictures in the frame that I got for all of Blythe’s first year photo sessions

17. Cook a recipe out of every cookbook I own

18. Take Blythe to pick fruit/vegetables at a farm

19. See a concert in Chicago

20. Make cloth napkins

21. Cook a meal for friend just because

22. Go to the Kane County Flea Market

23. Make Tiramisu

24. Take Blythe to the Children’s Museum

25. Spend a Girls afternoon in Downtown Geneva

26. Learn to Grill

27. Use my ice cream maker at least 6 times

28. Spend intentional time with 1 life giving friend monthly

29. Upload all of our pictures to a storage site/organize our pictures

Happy Long Weekend!

Our New Hobby

2011-06-24T21:49:00.004-05:00

6-24-11

As always, there's lots going on at the Blandford House! Currey and I have a new hobby. Some couples play sports. Others work out or go antiquing. Still others enjoy concerts or maybe even gardening. But not us! Our new hobby is putting offers on houses.

Many of you know that we had an offer on a house but unfortunately that deal feel through after 6 weeks of negotiation. At first we were very disappointed but as always, we have been amazed by the goodness of God. Two weeks ago we found another house and put in an offer. We weren't the only ones putting in an offer and our realtor encouraged us to keep looking as we would not hear about the house for awhile. (It's a bank owned property.) A week later, much to our surprise, we saw another even better house. At this point in time we are cautiously optimistic about this home purchase. The whole process has been an major learning experience. We are ready to feel settled (our house has been half packed for over a month as our first deal was supposed to close 5 weeks ago. It's getting a little old!)

We are thrilled that we have been provided this opportunity and feel so blessed that God has been protecting and guiding us each step of the way. We can't wait to report that something has finalized. We are looking forward to having our own place that we can do anything with. So excited about what our future holds!

Happy Weekend!

Mini Me

2011-06-13T20:55:00.003-05:00

6/13/11

It's amazing to me how much Blythe picks up on these days! Although she still does not make many audible words she mimics so many things that we do. She overheard me scolding moose and giving him a swat. The next time he walked by her she swatted him too. Not a behavior we want to encourage!

She holds my or Currey's phone all the time and jabbers away. It's hilarious! And she always curls it under like that.

Apparently I must talk on the phone while at the grocery store!

Blythe has a cart from her Aunt Caley and Uncle John. She loves to push it around. She likes to push it around, put books on it and talk on the phone.

She's one cute Peanut!

Miss Priss

2011-06-05T17:13:00.006-05:00

6/5/11

My mom, Blythe's Lulu, has a love of all things Mudpie. And you can see why!!

They make absolutely adorable children's clothing. But this over the top outfit was picture perfect this morning. Before we headed out the door to church Blythe was in a great mood so I snapped some pictures. She was being a little ham but I LOVE the shots that I got.

Oh how we love our little Peanut!

Blythe Walking

2011-06-05T17:08:00.001-05:00

6/5/2011

If you've followed my blog long at all, you've realzied it's not much to follow! :)

Blogging is not my passion. (I know, I know! This revelation SHOCKS you all!) But I've been thinking. Initally, I started this blog as a place to share recipes. There aren't words that express my love of cooking. And feeding people. I do hope to share some really amazing recipes soon. (And yes, I realize I always say that.)

Once Blythe was born, I thought this could be a place where we could share pictures and stories so that our friends and family could watch our Peanut grow. Texas is just too far away! I feel as though Currey and I have spent the last few weeks marveling at Blythe. She's walking, talking (mostly babbling) and just changing before our eyes. I've been inspired to work at blogging. I know that our families especially will enjoy seeing more pictures and stories. And I love looking back at old posts and stories. We are living a very full life but the memories we are making are memories I want to hang on to. To look back and read and remember this season. It's a precious season that is flying by faster than I would like!

We'll see how I do. I'm not promising daily posts or anything but maybe you'll here from me once a week. We'll see how it goes.

Now, what you are all really here for. Sweet Peanut showing off her newest skill. Yes, she's adorable. And Oh.So.Proud. It's a joy to watch. You might just hear a little excitement in my voice too!

Worth Reading

2011-02-21T17:56:00.004-06:00

2-21-11

When we were at Moody, I met my friend Kelly. We often joke that she was my only friend at Moody. She's a pretty precious soul and we loved when we were living in the city at the same time she and Ray were.

She is a person of depth and wisdom. Shortly after Currey started Wheaton they moved to Portland and now live in Wisconsin. I got to spend several hours with her last spring when they were in town to shoot a wedding. (Ray is a phenomenal Photographer!) We picked right up where we left off. I think any friend you can do that with is a very special friend. We are facebook friends and she often has pearls of wisdom to share that she finds all sorts of places. (I still regularly make a granola bar recipe I got off her blog several years ago. They've become famous among the youth group kids!)

She posted a post from another blog on facebook and I thought this post was worth passing along. It takes 2 minutes to read. And if you are a mother, I promise it's worth 2 minutes of your time.

Happy Monday!

Valentines Day

2011-02-14T21:13:00.003-06:00

2-14-11

I just wanted to share a picture of the 2 people that I love the most on this Valentines Day.

I know. They are absolutely precious!

Can you tell that she loves her Daddy?

To my two Lovies,

Happy Valentines Day!

I love you both like crazy!

11 Months

2011-02-14T21:09:00.002-06:00

1-24-11

Although I'd been told countless times, I did not truly understand how fast time flies! There is NO WAY that in one short month my precious peanut will be 1!!! If I could stop time I would. You continue to keep up busy. Here's what we've been up to this month:

You eat like a champ. Your daddy and I joke that you are going to eat us out of house and home. You continue to eat whatever we put in front of you. At this point you are following in daddy's footsteps as you are quite the adventurous eater. You want whatever it is Daddy and I are eating so you've had chorizo (which you ate an ENTIRE bowl full of!), hamburger, and spicy salami.
My love of hot food has rubbed off on you as well. We had macaroni and cheese for Christmas that had cayenne pepper in it. Everyone was blown away as you ate an entire helping, never seeming to notice the heat.
You have started on whole milk as well. You are a BIG fan!
My new favorite is morning snuggles. After about 6 weeks you decided you were not acuddler but over the last month that has really changed. After you eat in the morning you like to snuggle for awhile. I'm assuming this phase will pass so I'm soaking up every last minute with you!
You continue to experience some separation anxiety. I think everyone we go to church with are most disappointed by this. You no longer allow just anyone to hold you if you can see me. I worked in the nursery a couple of weeks ago and held another baby. You made it incredibly clear that I'm your Mommy and it's not acceptable for me to hold anyone else in your presence.
Even though you prefer Daddy or I to hold you, you are still a people person. We've had lots of people at the house recently and you do not like going to sleep if you know people are here.
Although you still prefer 3 naps a day, you can get by with only 2. You sleep for incredibly long stretches at night, sometimes even 12-13 hours. Again, you are Daddy's girl and you LOVE your sleep.
You love to pull up on things and then let go to see what happens. You think it's hilariouswhen you fall down and sometimes do it repeatedly.
You "walk" around furniture and proudly smile at us the entire time.
You also love to stand. You can't stay up for very long and every time that you do you giggle uncontroably. It's pretty cute!
One of your new favorite activities is to feed Moose. You love to drop food for him from your high chair and you get really upset when I tell you not to do it. Moose is one of your favorite pals and you have gotten really good at petting him. I know he is really glad that you have gotten past the ear pulling phase!

Peanut,

It seems like you are growing and changing every day. You continue to be more and more fun as you become increasing interactive. I love our trips to the grocery store. You sit in the cart and "talk" to me the entire time that I shop. We are frequently stopped because you smile at everyone. One of my favorite things is to watch people smile at you as we walk by. I love that at only 11 months you already bring joy to those around you. It's a privilege to be your Mommy and I treasure all of my sweet memories with you in my heart.

We love you dearly!

Mommy and Daddy

10 Months!

2011-02-14T21:04:00.003-06:00

12/24/10

It's hard for me to fathom that 10 months have already passed. Blythe has been outside the womb longer than she was inside. And that is strange to me. Strange because the time has flown and because I honestly don't remember what life was like before she came. She has grown and changed so much (which I know I say every post!) I love each stage and the newness it brings. Here's her current stats...

(It was Chirstmas Eve so yes, she had to wear a Santa Hat. The best part was that it was actually my dad's idea to have her wear it. So cute! And yes Dad, it was a great idea!)

You eat like a champ! It's absolutely amazing the amount of food that you can put away. Most recently you ate an entire hot dog for dinner, bun and all. You are still incredibly petite and we just aren't sure where all the food goes. You will eat anything we put in front of you which has brought your Daddy and I much entertainment.
You're love for your daddy is so strong! You light up every time you see him and are constantly saying Dada. You love to wave to him in the morning.
On that note, waving is your new favorite past time. You love to wave at everyone and make a high pitched sound that we are convinced is "Hi". It melts me every time.
You have started being more shy. You still love people but sometimes choose to bury your face in my neck when people talk to you.
You are pulling up on everything. You are more interested in toys but prefer to chew on them or wave them in the air.
You are snuggling! Your Daddy says that I'm indoctrinating you early which is probably true. Every morning after I feed you, you want to snuggle for awhile. It has become the highlight of my day. You haven't been much of a snuggler since you were around 6 weeks old so this is a very welcomed surprise! I treasure each morning because I'm sure you'll be out of this phase as soon as you entered it!
You have a big personality! You are still such a sweet, happy baby but it's becoming more and more apparent that you have an idea about how the world should work. We when do not act in the way you desire you scream. I'll be honest...it's hard not to laugh because you are very serious. This normally happens when we are feeding you at a rate you do not feel is fast enough. We are working on saying please instead of screaming but I think it's a long road ahead. :)
You have really found your voice. In general, you like to scream but it's not because you are upset. You appear very proud that you can make such a noise and once you've done it, you like to repeat it over and over. I love that you are such a confident little one!

Sweet Peanut,
Oh how we love you! We love your giggles and your screams. We love that your personality continues to develop. We await with great anticipation to see the kind of person you become. You are a precious gift and we continue to praise the Lord that he blessed us with you.
We love you like crazy! Mommy and Daddy

9 Months

2011-02-14T20:56:00.003-06:00

11/24/10

Oh Peanut! What a month we've had. Life continues to be an adventure and you are getting to experience a lot of fun events with so many people that love you dearly.

You attended your first musical, Sound of Music. Emily, from youth group, was in this production and you really enjoyed it.
You then saw Maddie in Flowers for Algernon. This story was very dark and past your bed time. Even though Maddie is one of your favorites we decided to leave early as you were a little distracting during the show. :)
You are crawling like crazy! You have places to go and people to see. You move non-stop.
You said Momma but have not said it since. Your Daddy and I both heard it crystal clear. It was a very special treat!
We've had to move your bed down because you are a master of pulling up! You eagerly greet us each morning standing in your crib with a giant smile. Like everything you do, it's pretty cute!
Your transitioning to table food and you LOVE it. You are a fearless eater and literally eat whatever we put in front of you. You have a huge appetite and literally shovel your food into your mouth. I'll admit, it really makes me giggle!

Sweet Little One,

You are an absolute JOY! I can't tell you how you daily warm my heart and make me praise God that he blessed our lives with you. You have such a sweet spirit and I anxiously await seeing how the Lord uses that to grow his kingdom. You are amazing and we just can't get enough of you!

We love you all there is!

Momma and Daddy

Here we go....

2011-02-14T20:22:00.002-06:00

2-14-11

Hello Blog Friends!

I've had some down time recently and have been blogging A LOT.

And I know what you are thinking, "JJ, you haven't posted anything in FOREVER! You aren't blogging!" But I've got a little secret. I blog often. It's just uploading pictures and putting them in that gets me behind. I can write all day but I'm thinking the pictures of Peanut are what keeps most of you reading!

So you are about to experience a blog overload this week. I'm working on pictures and finishing up some things that I've written. If I really want this blog to be a family journal of sorts then I need to be updating our life events more regularly.

We will be venturing back to November this week. I've been having so much fun looking through all of our old pictures and remembering sweet moments.

Hope you enjoy my random rambling!

Community

2010-12-07T17:49:00.003-06:00

12/8/10

Hello Blogland!

I'll start this post with a disclaimer...It's not my normal randomness of a post but rather just what's on my heart. Just thoughts that need to get out of my head and on to paper.

I was blessed to be raised in a home where my parents took us to church, taught us about God and lead lives that pointed us to Christ. I was brought up in the church and always had friends that were believers. Many of the people I attended church with are still friends and it's safe to say that they were a huge part of my faith community.

At the time in my life (up until high school) I doubt that I appreciated the roles that all those people took on and how they shaped me as a person. Once I reached college, I had a desire to find a similar community and was blessed like crazy to attend Beltway Baptist the entire time I was at ACU. I also had chapel daily at school and met with an friends who held me accountable in my life. It was a season where I took my faith as my own and grew a lot as a person.

Once I moved to Illinois, finding community was more difficult. I lived alone, went to a commuter school and was working and completing an internship. When Currey and I got married we were still longing for community. We became a part of a huge church and a small group that we enjoyed but we still felt like we were missing something. (To be fair, we lived 45 minutes from our church and small group and it's next to impossible to be in community with people when there is such a great physical distance.)

And then we found Life Church. We were hooked from the very first worship song. The people were warm and genuine. But the biggest draw was the honesty of everyone we met. People really wanted to do life with us. The good, the bad and the ugly. Even the really ugly. I didn't realize it immediately but we'd found community. That thing that I believe all believers long for. We got plugged into a small group and we began sharing life with those that were a part of our group. I could list all the reasons that our church is amazing and trust me I could easily come up with 100. But that's not the point. The point is we found community. A place were we are loved unconditionally, supported entirely in our gifts and talents and a place where we are accepted just as we are.

I'm in a season of appreciation that we have such a place but also a place of grieving for those that don't. I watch others, even believers, stumble blindly through life because they refuse to become vulnerable with those around them. Pride gets in the way of truly becoming a part of a community or sometimes its a fear of really being known by others. But that my friends is not what God intended. I believe that he longs for us to spend time with others, being encouraged and sharpened. I also believe that this is a greater support than just your family. Parents, siblings and spouses can all be sharpeners of our faith. But there is an even bigger community to belong to. Friends that become family and choose to love you in spite of yourself. So during this season of advent I urge you to find community. It's a sweet season of anticipating the birth of our savior. What better time to join with other believers to celebrate! May you joyously celebrate during this season of advent.

Saving Money at the Grocery Store Part 3

2010-11-13T22:34:00.002-06:00

11/13/10

Every time I grocery shop these days, I'm reminded that I've not finished this series. Since I'm not great at blogging to begin with, a multi-post series might not have been the best idea.

I'm a very visual person. Seeing things makes them make sense to me. So here is a trip to the store.

Normally, we do not buy this much processed food. I promise! This trip to the store was before our churches Women's retreat. I was going to be gone overnight and asked Currey what he wanted for dinner while I was away. Frozen pizza was the answer. Also, I had a high value coupon to try the P.F.Chang frozen meals and they were on sale so I got that dinner for about $4. (On a side note, they aren't that bad. Not something I would regularly buy but in a pinch it was a decent, easy to prepare meal.)

There's a lot of candy because I was making Reese's cup cookies and taking M&M's for snacks.

Here's the run down. I spent $65.05 and saved $19.34. Yes...almost $20. This is the contents of this shopping trip.

Digiorno Pizza
Rice Krispies
7 Gerber Organic Baby Food packs
7 Earth's Best Baby Food jars
1 Package Huggies wipes
Peanuts
Balsamic Vinegar
Flour tortillas
Slice of cake
Roast
Deli Ham
Deli Salami
2 cans organic sweet potato puree
2 bags Reese's Cups
2 bags M&M's
2 bags cookie mix
P.F. Changs frozen meal for two
Toothpaste

Obviously, there are not very many meals in this run. A random trip just means that I have lots of odds and ends at the house that I need to use up.

To shop well, you need some flexibility. I was planning on making steaks but none were priced that well. But this roast was about to go bad so it was marked down $3 and I had a coupon for $1 off. So I got a $10 roast for $6. If you regularly price roasts, this is a great deal. Also, I needed balsamic vinegar. The bottle I got was being clearanced. It's regularly $6 but I got it for $2.

Target, especially, has great clearance deals. Often times, it's brands that they aren't carrying anymore. It's always worth checking out.

Those are my tips. I hope there is something that you find helpful about these tips. I'm really hoping to return to posting recipes very soon. We've gotten some great one recently. I can't wait to pass them on!

8 Months

2010-11-06T21:24:00.003-05:00

Sweet Peanut...

Our time with you continues to FLY. It's so hard to remember what life was like before you were here. You continue to bring us more joy than we ever imagined. Here's what you've been up to this month.

You are still a very petite Peanut and only weigh 16 lbs. You are still in mostly 6 month clothes and you are wearing lots of Babylegs and a jacket with your summer dresses as most of the fall clothes we have for you are still too big.
You are still eating like a champ but have become a little more picky about food. You still love all fruit except apples and will eat most veggies. You have made us VERY aware that you don't like spinach. :)
You got really sick this month and it was not fun for any of us! You got to visit Dr. Corcoran several times and your sickness lingered for about a week. We hated seeing you not feel well but we took full advantage of your need to be snuggled.
Lulu and Pops came for a visit. You were spoiled like crazy and got to enjoy lots of walks and countless hours of play time. Your wardrobe and toy selection were expanded as well.
You still are not sure about crawling. You get up and rock consistently and will take about 3 "crawls" as we've started calling them but then you plop down on your belly and army crawl to where ever you want to go.
You LOVE to talk. All the time. You sometimes seem annoyed when mommy or daddy "interrupt" you when you are "talking" to Moose or Gracie or just to the air. We can't wait until you have a vocabulary. We think that you will have LOTS to say!
You are starting to notice older children and are fascinated by them. I love to watch you interact with other kids.
You continue to have the sweetest disposition! You love people and smile at anyone and everyone that gives you any attention. You have started giggling a lot and love to be tickled under your chin.
We are convinced that you will have teeth soon, although we've been saying that for months! EVERYTHING goes in your mouth. You chew on whatever you can get your hands on so we think any day now we will see a tooth.

Blythe,
Each day brings us more joy than the last! You continue to be a greater blessing than we could have ever imagined. You bring joy to the world around you and you continually brighten peoples day with your sweet smile. It's a blast to watch you grow and we love continuing to watch you explore your world! You are absolutely our Precious Peanut!
We love you like crazy!
Mom and Dad

Saving Money at the Grocery Store Part 2

2010-10-30T21:47:00.003-05:00

10/30/10

So, is it really necessary that I start every post with an apology about how long it's been since the last one? If you read this regularly at all you know that I'm a sporadic writer. And I really don't know who reads this anyway. So maybe I'm apologizing to cyber space...which is ridiculous!

Moving on...This is the second installment of how to save money at the grocery store. We'll title it coupons. Now if you just rolled your eyes or are contemplating not reading further, please reconsider! I'm not a coupon maniac but by taking a little more time I regularly save $10-$25 on our groceries. Yes, in addition to what I'm already saving by shopping sales. This is how we are keeping our grocery budget in line.

I keep my coupons organized by month so I always look at what's about to expire. I shuffle through them all to see if there are coupons for anything I'm planing on buying that week. I also pull coupons for things that I saw on sale or for things that I might buy if we have excess grocery money after buying the necessities. I keep these coupons out and look through them at the store just to remind myself what I've got coupons for.

So where do these coupons come from? I periodically buy a Sunday paper. That is great for coupons for toiletries and household products. Also, I almost exclusively shop at Target for groceries. And their website has great coupons. I've also learned that most brands have coupons on their websites. Many brands even have email lists and periodically send high value coupons.

If you do decide to get a paper, cut the coupons that you think you will use. Then look at the circular for the store where you normally shop. Often times coupons are released the same week as a sale on the products featured. (Does that make sense? I hope you get what I'm trying to say.) You can save extra by using a coupon when the product is already on sale. So...I think that sums up couponing. I have an actual receipt and pictures from a recent trip to the store. I'm hoping that will help give you a better idea. Hope that helps! Happy Sunday!

7 Months

2010-10-11T19:54:00.003-05:00

As always, this post is late!

It seems as though time is flying by faster and faster! Each month brings more milestones and is more fun than the last. Blythe is still the happiest baby around. She is super smiley and loves to be with people. She continues to easily go to anyone and loves all the attention that she often receives. So here's what we've been up to this month:

Blythe has started solids! I'll do a post about that soon. It's safe to say that she LOVES food! We have yet to give her something that she won't eat. She's not a fan of apples but even those she will tolerate.
We had some issues about her not gaining enough weight. Our doctor recommended that we double all of her solid foods. Blythe has started eating up! She loves variety and at our next weight check we were so excited to hear that she is back on track with weight gain.
We got to go to her first play this month as well. She got to see our friend Maddie in Charlotte's Web. Blythe sat still for the entire hour performance and watched the entire play. Like I said, she's a super easy baby!
Another BIG event was that I left Blythe overnight for the first time. I went on the Women's Retreat with church. She and Currey had a blast together and I enjoyed myself immensely! But I loved getting home and loving on Blythe.
Blythe is scooting like a champ! She will get up on her hands and knees and rock but then she flops down on her belly to army crawl. She is getting into everything!!!! It's so fun to watch her see something she wants and then scoot to it. She is one determined child.
She has also gotten to start BSF with me. I love knowing that she is already learning truths about scripture, is listening to hymns geared to babies and kind women are praying over her each week. It's such a sweet blessing that we get to spend time together each week at Bible Study Fellowship.

Blythe,
It continues to bring us such joy to watch you learn and grow. Your smiles are endless and your giggles are contagious. You love your world! You love Moose, especially when he wants to give you kisses. You take out your paci every morning after breakfast so you can get his kisses! Neither you or Moose agree with Mommy and Daddy that this kisses are a bad idea. You are easy going and always go with the flow. You bring us more joy than we could have ever imagine. We love you like crazy!
Mommy and Daddy

Saving Money at the Grocery Store Part 1

2010-09-25T16:17:00.003-05:00

9/25/2010

As promised, here is my first money saving post. I have no idea how many posts this will end up being but I'll start with this. There are literally hundreds of blogs that list deals, give tips on using coupons and share tons of money saving help. I had several sites on my Google reader but easily became overwhelmed. I've found that I can look at what works for someone and figure out which pieces work for me.

Here is what I know DOES NOT work for me.

I'm not a several store shopper. I do most of my shopping at Target and do a little shopping at Whole Foods.
I don't do the drug store game. If you read many money saving blogs they often talk drug store deals. At this point, it's not something that I have time to figure out and we are using more and more natural toiletries. There are rarely deals on these products and I have no desire to add another store to my route.
I don't use coupons to purchase products I wouldn't normally buy. I found that I spent a lot of money to save $0.25-$0.75 on products.

So, now that I've got that out of the way here's how I get prepared for the store. It seems really simple and it is but it does take some time. I normally spend 30 to 45 minutes on this but at this point I'm saving $20+ on groceries a week. I see it as working for 30 minutes to save $20 which in my mind is a great use of my time.
First, I look in the fridge and see what's there. I know it seems like common sense but I do it every week. I can't tell you how much money this saves me. I forget week to week what I've purchased and I often forget that I have the ingredients for at least one meal left over from the week before. I also see what ingredients I have and might only need a few things to make a complete meal.
Next I look at what's on sale that week. Once I have an idea of what I have and what's on sale I create a menu plan. A lesson that we learned early in our marriage is that if we don't have food at home that we are excited to eat we will avoid it and eat out. I make it a priority to change up our meals every week and use our tight budget to create exceptional food. This helps us save money as well which has allowed us to drastically cut our eating out budget.
Once I pick the meal plans, I create a grocery list. Once that list is created I double check that I'm not buying anything I already have by checking the fridge again. I know that sounds ridiculous! But after seeing that I had 6 boxes of butter because I kept buying never remembering if I had already purchased it, this became a mandatory final step!

I think this post is long enough! I'll post soon with the next steps. Hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend!

Favorite Things Friday

2010-09-24T17:42:00.006-05:00

9/24/2010

Although I've missed a couple of weeks, I got it together this week for a Favorite things Friday. There's no theme this week, just absolute randomness!!! It's just how my brain is working these days.

I'm currently obsessed! Well, we've been in love for quit some time but there is one right by work so it's a Friday morning treat. I love Asiago with garlic herb cream cheese. SO YUMMY!!!

Peanut LOVES her pacifier. Her Munchkin pacifier clip is priceless. We've been through several as the velcro wears out but they are worth every penny.

Gift cards. Oh how we love them. There is something so great enjoying a night out together especially when we can use gift cards for it. We've been enjoying lots of fun treats thanks to the blessing of others.

Iced coffee. It's been my favorite all summer but I'm trying to enjoy it to the fullest as cool weather is quickly approaching.

So there are my random favorites. I promise grocery posts are coming. Happy Weekend!

Favorite Things Friday

2010-09-10T14:10:00.007-05:00

9/10/2010

So here's the second installment of Favorite things Friday! And as I'm about to start working in a cloth diapering store, I thought I'd share my current favorite diapering products!

My Itzy Ritzy Wet Bag

This is what I carry with me in the diaper bag to use for dirty diapers when we are on the go. I simply add them to the diaper pail when we get home. I'll admit that cloth diapering on the go intimidated me for awhile but now it's hard to believe I was ever scared by the challenge!

Hemp Products

My newest finds are Baby Kicks hemp and I'm OBSESSED!!! Hemp is much more trim in a prefold and I use hemp inserts in my pocket diapers for extra absorbancy. They are amazing and I'm sad I didn't discover the wonder of hemp sooner.

I also love the Baby Kicks Hemp Organic fitted diaper. It's on the very pricey side but it makes diapering an ease. I have one and hope to add a couple more as they are an amazing overnight diapering option. Another plus is that it's organic!

Thirsties covers

I use these covers with the hemp and it's a fantastic combo. We used these when she was a newborn and have fallen in love with them again after fixing a sizing issue we were having. I love the bright colors and the cute patterns. I also love that they come with snaps. We have snaps and velcro diapers and we've decided that we are a snap family!

and Of Course, the Cutest Cloth Diaper Wearer!

So there you have it! Enjoy your weekend!

Oh Blogger...

2010-09-09T22:10:00.003-05:00

9/9/2010

Thanks for all the feedback on the last post. It got me really excited so I think I'm going to do a short series on grocery/budget/coupon stuff. But Blogger has hated me this week! I couldn't sign in, I've gotten a million error messages and it just hasn't been cooperative. This does not help my motivation to blog but EXCITING announcements do make me want to blog!

So before you can ponder any of the possible exciting scenarios that just went through your head, I'll share my news. I'm returning to work. Yep, it's true and I could not be more excited! Starting next week I will begin work at our cloth diaper shop. They posted on facebook that they were looking for help. I excitedly told Currey thinking he might tell me I'm crazy but as always he shared my enthusiasm and encouraged me to apply. I went in the next morning and then went back today to work on scheduling stuff. It will be part time and around Currey's work schedule so Peanut will still get to spend her days with me or her Daddy. I LOVE the store where we buy diapers and I honestly can't believe that I get to work there. It's one of those amazing God things were I was handed an opportunity that I never even thought about but is absolutely perfect. I'm excited to be able to share my love of cloth diapers with others and get paid for it. It really doesn't get much better than that!

6 Months

2010-09-04T12:57:00.004-05:00

8/24/2010

Blythe's 6th month birthday was extra special as she will always celebrate her half birthday on my mom's birthday. It's hard to believe that in just 6 more months Peanut will be 1 year old. I can't even wrap my mind around that! Here's what we've been up to this month:

My dearest college friend, Celeste came to visit. The fact that Blythe got to spend time with my dear friend is so special to me. Great memories!
Blythe also got to meet Auntie J. We loved spending time with J in Dallas. It was a week of being spoiled and loved on. Blythe loved meeting J and I think she really enjoyed her first trip to Texas!
Getting to Texas was an event! Blythe took her first flight. She did outstanding. I think I was much more stressed than she was. The other passengers were very gracious and we all survived.
The flight was interesting because Blythe began teething this month. All I can say is WOW!!! Our sweet, calm baby has been really fussy. It's the worst feeling in the world to not be able to comfort her when she's in pain. Thankfully for now she is back to her usual happy self.
We all got to experience our first flood at our house! Blythe slept through a lot of it but it was an adventure for sure! Hopefully it will soon get it's own post.
We went to the doctor on her half birthday and Blythe weighs 15 lbs 2 oz and she is 25 inches long. We also got the go ahead to start rice cereal.
Roger and Terri also came for a visit. Blythe enjoyed the extra love and attention! We enjoyed some great food and just quality hang out time together. Blythe got to go shopping for new fall clothes which she always enjoys. She is one blessed baby!

Peanut,

It is so much fun to watch you learn and grow. You are amazing! You bring your Daddy and I such joy! Hearing you talk non-stop is so entertaining. Oh how we wish we knew what you were saying! You are a precious blessing and we are so glad that God allowed us to be your parents. Thanks for all your sweet smiles and giggles. You melt our hearts.
We love you!

Favorite Things Friday

2010-09-03T20:13:00.007-05:00

9/3/2010

Several of the blogs I read do Favorite Things Friday. It's basically a weekly post talking about current favorites. I've been toying with the idea of doing this for some time and I've decided to take the plunge! My hope is that a consistent weekly post might inspire me to be a better blogger. I guess we'll all see how that works out! :)

This week my favorites are cooking related. I've been in the kitchen lots lately. (And I promise that some outstanding recipes are coming!) So with out further adieu...

I've ALWAYS been a fan but I'm currently obsessed. I love that there is a recipe box where I can store recipes in categories that I've created. I can go back for reference and I love reading suggestions of people that have tried the recipes before. The pictures of food entice me and inspire me to try new dishes. I love the ease of the site!

Our new favorite ingredient is orzo. If you've never used it while cooking you are seriously missing out! Our current favorite use is this salad recipe. You should make it. Tomorrow. We've served it half a dozen times this summer and it's a huge hit. Seriously...make it this weekend! But promise me that if you make it you'll use good olives. The olives make it. Nothing that comes out of a can.

Coupons! I've always been a fan but now that I'm staying home we've had to tighten our budget in lots of areas but the easiest place to do that is the grocery budget. I'm proud to report that we spend $60 a week on groceries and we are able to do this by shopping sales and using coupons. And don't feel bad for us! We eat VERY well! We are eating more produce and organic than ever. It takes a little more planning but it's become a game to see how much I can save. And $60 covers ALL our meals for the entire week. We eat out together 3 times every 2 weeks (Both Sundays with friends after church and a meal together out) so this basically covers all breakfasts, lunches and dinners for a week. I'm thinking I should do a separate post about this. Is that interesting to anyone? I've loved spending time in the kitchen and making lots from scratch.

If money were no object, I would shop here exclusively. (See, don't feel bad for our meager grocery budget! I shop at Whole Foods!) If you don't live where there is a Whole Foods, I'm sorry! I've been absolutely amazed at how inexpensively I can get a few organic things here. (Although there are things here that are way over priced and just ridiculous!) Again, combining sales with coupons can make some products very affordable. And there are a few things we sacrifice for, like their granola. It's unbelievable! They offer nuts and cereals in bulk and I use these regularly. So there you have it! Some of my favorite cooking things. Hope to be back with more favorites next Friday!

Friends

2010-08-18T11:49:00.004-05:00

8/18/2010

As I've written before, Currey and I have been greatly blessed by so many precious friends from all the seasons of our lives. In the last month I have gotten to spend time with 2 precious friends.

While in Dallas last week, Currey finally got to meet my dear friend, Emily Merrell. I've never called her Emily. It's always been Merrell. Merrell and I attended Kanakuk together for several summers and we were the best of friends. She came to visit me in Amarillo and I made trips to Dallas during the school year so we could see each other. I have countless memories with Merrell and Currey has heard about her for our entire relationship. Finally, he got to meet her. I didn't even know she was in Dallas (she currently lives in London) but facebooked her as we had been at a restaurant I always went to when I visited. She wrote back that she was in town and we scheduled a visit. We picked right back up where we left off (we decided we hadn't seen each other in 8 years!) and she had come across a scrapbook of one of our summers at Kamp. It was so sweet to spend time reminiscing about Kamp and talking about life now. I'm so thrilled that Currey was able to meet my precious friend too.

A week before that my best friend from college, Celeste, visited. Go here to see pictures of our time together. I was a slacker and took NO pictures while she was here. Celeste and I met our freshman year and then pledged the same club at ACU. We spent almost every Friday night together at Starbucks. We both had long distance boyfriends and would spend our Friday evenings chatting to each other and our boyfriends on the phone. I'm sure we looked like weirdos but it worked for us. :) We shared many adventures in college and always had a blast when we were together. I can report that we still enjoy each others company immensely! Celeste was here for a work conference so we got to see her on several occasions which made her visit extra special. I think it's safe to say she LOVED Miss Blythe! As the smiles in Celeste's pictures show I think Blythe loves her Aunt Celeste too. We got to share several meals, shopped and even had a couple of Starbucks dates. As always, it was SUCH a treat to spend time with my sweet friend. We just missed her precious husband Adolfo. Hopefully next time! Just wanted to take the time to document these sweet visits. Hope you are all having a wonderful week.

4 Months Old

2010-08-14T11:51:00.001-05:00

6/24/2010

Our time with Blythe is absolutely flying! She continues to get bigger and become more alert. With each week that passes it seems as though she is becoming less and less like a baby! We can not believe how fast she is growing.

As always, she had several firsts this month. They include..

Her second road trip! This time we went to Wisconsin. My parents flew into Chicago and spent a couple of days with us here. Then we packed up and headed to Wisconsin Dells for the week.
Swimming! We were able to give Blythe her first taste of swimming. Currey and I took her one day, then Jeffrey took her the next day. She seemed to like it. Just one more experience!
Blythe rolled over for the first time! We actually all missed the first one, but saw 2 more after that. She waited another week until she would show her Daddy but now she just can't stop.
Unfortunately, once on her belly she screams. She's not quite sure how to get back on her back. We are anxiously awaiting that milestone as we spend most of our days flipping her back over.
We got to attend our first play group at our local cloth diaper store, Cumfy Bummy. It was nice to meet some other moms, especially other cloth diapering moms. We really enjoyed it and I think that we'll be back!
Mommy had to take her alone for shots. It was much more traumatic for me than Blythe. I was so upset, I frightened the nurses. I HATE getting shots, so watching Blythe get them bordered on unbearable.
She weighed 13 pounds and 4 ounces and was 24 inches long at her 4 month appointment. She's dropped to the 45th percentile in both.
She is still in 3 month clothes for the most part and I'm not complaining! I'm not ready for her to grow up and it's already happening.

It's been another wonderful month and we continue to praise God for our precious gift. Blythe, we find great joy in being your parents! We are such a happy child and bring joy to so many around you. You love people and have continued your go with the flow attitude. To say that you are an easy baby is an understatement. I treasure my days with you.
We love you like crazy!
Mommy and Daddy

Pictures and Updates

2010-08-14T11:44:00.003-05:00

8/14/2010

I was so proud of myself because I got several posts done yesterday but then Blogger was having issues and wouldn't let me post!!! I was annoyed but thankfully, this morning, it's cooperating. So get ready for several new posts.

And since I recently realized this never posted, here's Peanut at 3 Months. So Cute!

5th month

2010-08-12T16:24:00.004-05:00

7/24/2010

As always, these posts come so quickly! It seems as though I was just writing the last post. Blythe is now 5 Months old!!!

Here's what we've been up to this month...

Blythe attended her first wedding and got to see Daddy perform his first wedding.
That weekend she got to meet lots of people that love her dearly, including Currey's mom and 3 sets of her great grand parents. She was loved on like crazy!
She also got to attend her first staff retreat. Again, Blythe received lots of extra love that week. We are so blessed by our church family especially the other staff members that we serve with. Staff retreat is always a highlight of our summer and we loved that Blythe got to be a part of that this year.
We stay at Papa John's lake house for retreat. While we were there Blythe got to go on her first and second boat rides. She was having a hard time sleeping so we took her out on the pontoon. It rocked her right to sleep. Later in the week she got to go on another boat ride for a sun set cruise. We got a precious picture of her with her daddy!
During staff retreat she began sleeping on belly exclusively. This made us very nervous initially but after staying up with her for over an hour flipping her back over we decided she could sleep on her belly. :)
She can roll over from her belly to back now, although she rarely does that. She now enjoys her tummy time and spends most of her day looking at the world around her.
Blythe got to meet Marge and Bob. This was SUCH a treat for Currey and I as we just adore the Schroeders. We enjoyed introducing them to Blythe and it's safe to say that they are in love! I think the feeling is mutual.
We had some issues with feeding but were introduced to a wonderful nurse named Sue. She was truly a life saver and now we are back on track. At our second appointment with Sue, Blythe weighed in at 14 pounds and 8 oz. She is such a great eater!
Blythe attended her first White Sox game with the youth group. She even wore her White Sox onesie. She looked adorable!

Blythe,
You still bring us more joy than we could have ever imagined. It is so fun to watch you grow and learn. You are so alert. We spend lots of time wondering about what you are thinking about. You are absolutley amazed by the world around you! You continue to smile continuously and love people. You go to everyone with ease and just eat up all the attention. You are a precious little girl and we are blessed to have you as a part of our family!

100th post!!!

2010-08-11T21:41:00.003-05:00

8/11/2010

I can't believe it but I have somehow managed to log 100 posts here on my little blog. The posts are so infrequent but it's interesting to look back and see what I've thought was post worthy over the last 2 years. It's been fun to see where we've been and the adventures we've had. Such sweet memories! When I realized that this post was going to be our 100th I felt it should be memorable. Yes, Blythe's 4th and 5th month are special, but there is something I thought was worth celebrating in this post....Blythe has moved to her own room!!!

Now the purpose of this post is not to step on any toes as I know there are LOTS of differing opinions on the subject. I'm just wanting to mark this moment in our family history. Our goal was to have her in her room by 3 months. I wish that we could at least admit strong convictions to our arragnement but actually we were bring quite selfish. You see, we don't have central air conditioning. We have 2 window units, one in the living room and one in the bedroom. It's been a remarkably hot summer and we just weren't ready to part with our air conditioner.

Thankfully our sweet friends heard of our predicament and gave us another unit. Blythe has been sleeping apart from us for a whole week and has never missed a beat! Although it's another sign that she's growing up, we enjoy having our room back. So there you have it, post number 100. Looking forward to 100 more and maybe it won't take me another 2 years to get there! :)

Where we've been...

2010-08-02T16:47:00.003-05:00

8-2-10

If you follow my blog at all you will quickly realize that frequent posts are not my strong suit! I've been working on Blythe's 5 month post and realized that I never posted her 4 month post that is written. Those will be coming soon. We've been recovering from a flooded basement (not fun!), entertaining my best friend from college for the weekend (more fun than words can express) and preparing for the upcoming youth group year (beyond fun but more work than I dreamed!).

In addition we've just been spending time as a family enjoy the sweet moments of Blythe. As we don't know if God will choose to expand our family with another biological child or just through the adoptions that we still dream of completing, we want to treasure each moment with our precious baby girl! We may never have an infant again so each milestone is sheer joy. We are treasuring these moments in our hearts and continue to feel blessed beyond measure that God gifted us with sweet Blythe. So in my mind, the blog can wait. I want to capture our life and memories on this blog but right now I'm just enjoying creating them. I promise to be back soon with sweet Blythe updates. Boy, has she grown!

And just for proof a recent shot of our little peanut

(Also, if you don't view my blog in reader, it appears that the template that I was using has been taken down so there is no more cute pattern. I'll get a new one...but at the rate I move with this blog it will be Christmas before that happens!)

Caley and John's Wedding Weekend

2010-07-04T15:43:00.006-05:00

7/4/2010

Last weekend we had the joy of attending Currey's sister's wedding. What made this wedding extra special is that Currey got to preform the ceremony. It was Currey's first wedding and he did an outstanding job. It was incredibly sweet! We were able to spend some great time with family.

Blythe was able to meet lots of people which she LOVED!

Currey's mom

And lots of grandparents!

The bride and groom heading to breakfast.

The wedding was beautiful and in an amazing glass chapel.

And the reception was perfect as well.

We'll just say that it was very hot but peanut got special treatment.

Our little family

Thankfully my mom flew up here and then drove down with us.

It ended up taking 13 hours each way so we were SO incredibly glad that she was there to entertain Blythe. She even stayed with Blythe Saturday night so that we could enjoy the reception. It was a great evening and we enjoyed being a part of Caley and John's big day.

More Recipes!

2010-06-22T13:40:00.002-05:00

6/22/2010

Well, I'm back with 2 more recipes!

The first is bar-b-que chicken. You won't even believe how easy. Bar-b-que sauce, chicken stock and chicken in a crock pot. Let it sit for an hour or two (since it's already cooked). The meat breaks down and is great in a sandwich or our new favorite, Bar-b-que chicken quesadillas.

And now for an actual recipe...Chicken Caesar Sandwich.
Reserve some of the breast meat when you take the meat off of your chicken. Slice the chicken and toss with 2-3 Tablespoons Caesar dressing and grated Parmesan cheese. Serve on a ciabatta rolls with romaine lettuce.

It's a great summer time sandwich! Hopefully, I'll be back soon with more recipes! And of course a Blythe update! We are heading for her 4 month check up this afternoon. The time is already flying by! I can't believe how fast she is growing.

The beauty of rotisserie chicken

2010-06-19T12:51:00.003-05:00

6/19/2010

The title of our blog is Breakfast with the Blandfords and was initially intended to be a place where we shared all the wonderful things that we created in our kitchen. I knew it had been awhile since I'd posted a recipe but it turns out the last time was 11/22/2008. Yes, you read that right! Almost a year and a half ago. Which is sad!!! We've been cooking up some great treats and I have lots of pictures from things we've created so hopefully I will get lots more recipes up soon.

I thought I would begin though with my new friend, rotisserie chicken. I've used this for years to make chicken and dumplings but never thought about creating additional uses for it. And then I had a baby and wanted yummy food that could be made quickly. The possibilities are truly endless but here are some of our current favorites.

I can get a rotisserie chicken at our local store for $5 which is a bargain if I've ever seen one! As soon as I get home I take all the meat off the bones. (As a side recipe, boil a giant pot of water. Put all the discarded skin and bones in the pot and boil for 6-8 hours. Add water as necessary. Strain the broth and place in freezer safe containers and you don't have to spend money on chicken stock. This saves us A LOT of money!) I don't mind dark meat if it's mixed with white meat but if you prefer to separate your meat that is fine too. I take 2 forks and shred the meat. I use shredded chicken in all the following recipes. To me it's easier to work with.

Here are 5 different things to do with all that chicken:
Make a Tex-Mex style chicken. I am a huge fan of Salsa Verde so I normally cook half of the chicken in salsa. By doing all this when you get home from the store and then refrigerating it, it allows you to heat and serve later in the week. Tex-Mex chicken can be used several ways but our favorites are enchiladas, quesadillas and taquitos. Even though it's the same chicken, it's different enough to us to have 2 of these meals in the same week. Here's my recipes:

Enchiladas:
Whatever sauce you used to cook the chicken, pour some in the bottom of a 9x13 and spread to cover the bottom of the pan. Cover with corn tortillas. Add the chicken mixture (that you've warmed in the microwave), Mexican cheese blend and then cover with more tortillas. Cover the tortillas with a thin layer of salsa and add more cheese. Bake at 350 until the cheese bubbles.

Taquitos:
Warm your chicken mixture in the microwave. Warm a few corn tortillas as well. (We prefer to do this in the oven or on our stove top. Not in the microwave!) Fill each tortilla with about 2 tablespoons of the chicken mixture. Roll and secure with a toothpick. Place rolled tortillas in hot oil on the stove top and turn once when the 1st side in is golden brown. Let cool and enjoy with salsa, sour cream or guacamole for dipping.

Quesadillas:
Warm you chicken mixture. Heat a large skillet and then add a flour tortilla, Mexican cheese blend and chicken. Top with another flour tortilla. Turn to brown tortillas. Let cool and then cut into triangles.

Ok...this post has already become very long! I'll add the other 2 recipes later today or tomorrow. And they don't involve using the same type of chicken in 3 different ways. :)

Summer Goals

2010-06-14T10:10:00.004-05:00

6/14/2010

I have always been a person that needs to write things down. I wish that meant I was an organized list maker but my "organizational system" is more like organized chaos. I write things down on random pieces of paper and then have my paper all over the place. I can normally find most anything I need but if I were to need to explain it to someone else, it could be disastrous! Now that I've had a baby, if it's not written down it will shortly be forgotten. So, with that said, I decided that I would make a list of the things I want to accomplish this summer. I'll report back on my progress (not that anyone cares but one goal is trying several new recipes! I'll let you know how they turn out.) So with out further adieu...

Read a book a month. I have always enjoyed reading but have not been doing much of it since Blythe's arrival. I want to start reading again. (If you've read anything great lately please leave a comment. I'm not totally sure what I want to read.)
Try at least one new recipe a week. I'm not sure why but I'm always more eager to try new recipes in the summer. Maybe that's because everything just seems fresher.
Shop at the Farmer's Market at least every other week. I love buying fresh produce from the people that grew it on their local farm.
Read Isaiah each month. I'm doing a Bible study on Isaiah next year and I want to be familiar with the material.
Help Currey finish up youth group stuff for the next year. We are having a blast planning for next year. It's going to be amazing!
Walk Moose at least 3 times a week.
Do yoga at least twice a week.

So that's it for now. Nothing huge or life changing but just a little reminder to myself of all I want to accomplish.

Cloth Diapering

2010-06-07T21:55:00.002-05:00

6/7/2010

So I'm still behind on my posts but at this point in time my camera with my pictures on it is M.I.A. I'm trying to be better about keeping up with my blog so I thought I'd do a post on cloth diapers.

Honestly, I can't even remember where I ever got the idea to consider cloth diapers but once I heard about them I began doing research. A LOT. OF. RESEARCH. I wish that I could say I had strong convictions about environmentalism but if you know Currey or I that is just not the case. But if you know me, you know that I am cheap. Not frugal, cheap. And I'm proud of that and that's another post in the making! :) I am absolutely in LOVE with Blythe's cloth diapers so this will probably be a lengthy post as I have lots to say about our choice.

I began looking at the options and doing the math. Using cloth diapers could save us money and lots of it. Even before we were sure that I was going to stay home, we knew the cost of having a child would be high. I continued to read different numbers but the general consensus is an average family spends $2500 on diapers over the course of each child's life. So even families with 2 children will spend $5000 diapers on diapers! To date I've spent $150 on cloth diapers. We do use disposables for convenience but I've not spent anything on those yet as we were given lots of gift cards and a couple of packs as gifts. For us cloth is much cheaper.

The world of cloth diapering is vast and everyone has their favorite brands. Picking what diapers I thought would work for us was one of the most difficult tasks. Thankfully we live in an area that offers shopping for everything and we stumbled across Comfy Bummy in Naperville. If anyone reads this that lives in the Chicago land area, they are worth checking out. We went in and they were very helpful. There are lots of decisions to make like one size or sized, pre-folded and covers or inserts, and Velcro versus snaps. We were able to look at different options and feel different materials. I think getting to touch and see them in person was MUCH easier than looking at pictures on the internet. Although we felt we were more informed I was just not ready to make the financial commitment. We decided we would wait until Blythe was a month old and then we would buy all the needed supplies.

Fast forward to Blythe's birth. We'd read all the books and knew that she would go through 8-10 diapers a day. That didn't mean much to me until our diaper genie began generating what seemed like a mountain of trash. Although I'm not incredibly green, seeing that many diapers headed to the trash put me over the edge! When Blythe was just 2 weeks old we made the switch.

We started with pre-folded diapers with a cover. We picked Thirsties and were incredibly pleased. I went though a short phase of not liking them when Blythe was about 2 months old as the fit was a bit off. Now that she's grown more I'm back on the Thirties band wagon. We were given a 3 pack of Smarti Pants at one of our showers and I bought a couple of Bum Genius diapers on-line as everyone who uses them seems to love them. I have been pleased with both. Currently I have 2 dozen pre-folds with 3 covers, 4 Bum Genius, and 3 Smarti Pants. I do laundry every other day but I hardly notice the extra work. I can stuff diapers while I watch TV or talk on the phone.

Another huge plus is Blythe does not get diaper rash. At All. Unless I put her in a disposable. I mentioned earlier that we use disposables for convenience. Normally that's just when we go to church or to staff. There are bags that you can carry to hold soiled diapers when you are on the go but I have yet to join that club. I'm actually considering becoming a full time cloth diaperer just to avoid diaper rash but we'll see if I become that brave. There is something about cloth diapering in public that still kind of scares me! I love cloth diapering which has honestly been very shocking to me. If you don't mind the extra laundry it's an option worth considering!

Baby Dedication

2010-05-22T13:08:00.002-05:00

5/24/2010

In April we were blessed to dedicate Blythe with our church family. At our church we do not practice infant baptism but we do have the opportunity to commit in front of our church family to raise our children in a home where God is central to all that we do. The parents, friends, family and the church body all agree to this commitment and it is a sweet time to pray over our children.

The pictures that we got aren't that great so here's the best one.

Each family also picks a verse for their children. The verse that we chose for Blythe is:

Habakkuk 3:17-18

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

At first glance, I know this looks like a very strange verse to pick for your child's blessing but if you know my husband at all it makes perfect sense. One of Currey's biggest pet-peeves is when verses are pulled out of context and applied to something that the original context does not fit with. We joked about submitting our verse in Greek or Hebrew so that nothing was lost in translation! :) I love Currey's love of God's word and his desire to honor it's true message and meaning. This verse fit that criteria and seemed to be a perfect fit. Our prayer for our sweet daughter is that she will always cling to God and His word especially during the rough seasons that life will inevitably bring. We pray that she come to know the Lord and that she would trust Him fully with her life. We know that this is often easy to do in seasons of ease and joy but our prayer is that in times of trial He would also be the one that she turns to first. We feel blessed to be a part of a church body and family that is willing to surround us and hold us accountable to raise Blythe in a way that is honoring and pleasing to the Lord.

Currey's Birthday and a Visit from My Parents

2010-05-18T22:12:00.003-05:00

5/20/2010

On May 1st we celebrated the birth of my sweet husband. We love to celebrate birthdays and it's the only day of the year that Currey will tolerate me spoiling him rotten so I have to take advantage! This year was extra special as my parents were able to celebrate with us. (More on that later.)

We started celebrating a few days early as I thought the youth group would want to celebrate with us. We enjoyed a yummy cookie cake. I didn't have any candles so they just used one of the candles off our buffet. Whatever works!

Sadly, on Currey's actual birthday he had to work. This whole being a grown-up thing is not always fun! Our sweet pastors were gracious enough to allow us to use their home and my dad and I made a giant breakfast spread.

I have to admit that it was very yummy! On Sunday my parents treated Currey to a birthday dinner at White Chocolate Grill. It was delicious! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of that. That place is ALWAYS a delicious treat!

I'll just say we were so surprised that my mom came with my dad for this trip! My dad was off for a few days and decided to come up. Currey and I couldn't believe that my mom would let him come see Blythe without him but they kept saying it was just my dad. Friday morning before work Currey asked if I thought my mom might be coming in to surprise him for his birthday. I assured him my mom was NOT coming. Imagine my surprise when I went to the airport to get my dad and my mom was with him. We enjoyed lunch together and then headed to see Currey at work. Currey was just as surprised to see my mom! It was great to have them here to celebrate Currey and having them to watch Blythe made preparing a birthday breakfast feast MUCH easier. Here are a few pictures from their visit.

As always, it was great to have family visit. There are several other posts coming about our other recent visitors! We'll see when those get posted! :) (And YES Blythe is growing like crazy! We were looking at pictures from my parents visit a month ago and we can not believe how much she has grown and changed. She brings more joy than we could have ever imagined! We'll continue to post her precious pics so you can watch her grow too.)

A Heart Full of Gratitude

2010-05-09T21:49:00.003-05:00

5/9/2010

The past few months have been rough. The months leading up to Blythe's birth we had so many friends experiencing grief and loss. And it was hard. Loss of relationships, personal suffering and absolute pain. We wept with friends, questioned why so many horrid things were happening to those that we love and wondered why God allows these types of things to happen. Being an adult can be trying, although there are seasons of great joy as well. At times, we had a hard time being positive and questioned lots of things. It was a very difficult season but it provided us a chance to really live life with so many that we love and we experienced a lot of growth.

In those times, it's often hard to stay positive and to always believe that God is truly in control and knows what he is doing. But today I have a heart full of gratitude. Today, God has given me the grace to see his hand at work. Today, I am trusting that He is in control and I am thankful that I can rest assured He knows what is best for me. I am thankful for seasons for growth and also for seasons of joy. God is so good and He continues to richly bless our little family.

Reason #1 I'm Grateful

Currey is a fabulous man! I am cherished and loved and he lets me know it every day! I can not imagine life without him. He works incredibly hard so that I am able to stay home and I am so thankful. He is a precious man and I absolutely adore him.

Reason #2 I'm grateful

Being Blythe's mommy is a joy! I enjoyed celebrating my first Mother's Day. I still can't believe that we have a precious baby girl. God is so good and we are amazed at his goodness. We are thankful for all the seasons we get to experience and I celebrate today that God has given us the grace to see the good in all circumstances.

Give Away on Libby's Blog

2010-05-03T13:02:00.001-05:00

5/3/2010

Libby is doing a great giveaway on her BLOG. You should go check it out!

Easter and More Visitors

2010-05-01T20:51:00.006-05:00

5/1/2010

I know...2 posts in one day!

Over Easter weekend Rick and Shelly came to meet Blythe and celebrate Easter with us. It was such a sweet trip and we loved getting to introduce Blythe to Rick and Shelly. They immediately feel in love and it was so fun to see them both with her.

Currey had to work on Saturday so Rick and Shelly watched Blythe so that I could run some errands. I also got to get pampered with a manicure and pedicure! Such a nice treat and I only called home once! On Sunday, they watched Blythe again so that Currey and I could go on a date. It was nice to get to spend time with just Currey but it was so weird to be away from Blythe. They spoiled us while they were here and we packed the weekend full of activities. It was great to have them visit.

Blythe also got a visit from the Easter Bunny! She loves her play mat. The Easter Bunny did good! And as I follow in my mom's footsteps, there were several practical presents like pacifiers.

Here she is in her Easter dress. Not the best picture as it was taken with my phone but she looked precious!

It was a great weekend of yummy food, great conversation and sweet time with family. We are LOVING all the visitors that Blythe has brought our way and we are excited about several more visits from family over the next month. We will be busy almost every weekend but it's the best kind of busy to be! Looking forward to introducing Blythe to our siblings and Blythe's first road trip for the all church retreat.

3 Months Old

2010-05-01T16:47:00.005-05:00

6/11/10
So the camera is still M.I.A. and I wanted to get this done before her 4 month old post! (Which is approaching TOO quickly!) Once it's located I'll put up her 3 month picture. Here are a few things that Miss Blythe has been up to this month...

Blythe attended her first play! Maddie, one of our youth group girls, was in a school production of Willy Wonka which Blythe and I attended. It was precious and Blythe stayed awake for most of it! She loves Maddie.
Celebrated Currey's birthday! It was an absolute blast and I'm sure she loved celebrating Daddy.
She went on her first road trip! We had our All Church Retreat in Springfield and she did great. She was loved on like crazy and once again we were reminded of how precious our church family is!
We also spent our first day away from her while on retreat. We took the youth group to St. Lois for a day trip and we left Blythe with my sweet friend Andrea. I didn't think it would be as hard on me as it was! We couldn't get wait to get home and hug on her.
Blythe has found her voice. She loves to talk ALL. THE. TIME. It's pretty much the cutest thing in the world. She continues to become more and more alert.
She's in 3 month clothes and can wear some of her 3-6 months stuff as well. She is so long! I can't believe how much she has grown in just 3 short months!

Blythe, you are one precious child! We continue to be amazed at how much joy you add to our lives. Your daddy and I adore you and are loving watching you reach each milestone. You are AMAZING and we love you like crazy!

2 Months Old!

2010-05-01T15:14:00.004-05:00

5/1/2010

So my last post was a month ago celebrating Blythe's first month. I've never been a great blogger but adding a baby into the mix has not helped! :) Thankfully we are finding our groove as a family so I hope to be more frequent with my posts. First, a shout out to Currey as today is his birthday. That will get it's own post later on. For now, a look at Blythe's 2nd month of life!

Just like last month she had many more firsts this month. They included:

Hearing her Daddy preach his first sermon. I'm sure that she loved it!
She celebrated her first Easter. (That will also get it's own post! Rick and Shelly came to meet Blythe and it was a great trip)
For Easter, Blythe got a playmate. It's a new favorite and keeps her entertained for awhile.
She has started to smile and nothing melts our hearts more! She is still an incredibly happy girl.
Blythe has also started cooing more. She is quite the talker which is incredibly fun.
She slept through the night which was very scary the first time! Waking up at 6 am and realizing we hadn't been up all night was unsettling. Although it was sporadic at first, she is now sleeping through the night every night. Sleep is such a blessing and something that I appreciate much more than I knew was possible.
She had her 2 month check up. She's growing like crazy! She's 24 1/2 inches long and 11 lbs. 6 oz.
This also meant she got her first shots. I'm sure that it was much more traumatic for me than her. Currey came with us so that he could hold her while she got them. I can't see a needle without freaking out!
She is still in size 1 diapers. She is growing out of some of her 3 month clothes and wearing bulkier cloth diapers does not help!

Sweet Blythe,
You bring us more joy than you can ever know. We love being your Mommy and Daddy! We treasure your sweet smiles and love hearing you talk to us. We look forward to the next months and years as we create more memories. You are a sweet blessing and we are crazy about you!
Love,
Momma and Daddy

Blythe's First Month

2010-03-31T21:24:00.004-05:00

3/31/2010

So I'm a week late in posting, but better late than never right! I got the picture taken at the right point at least.

Last Wednesday Blythe turned one month old. The time is already flying by! She had lots of FIRSTS. Here's a little update on what's she's been up to this month:

She attended her first staff meeting. She was loved on by all. I think she enjoyed herself.
She also attended her first small group. Again she was loved on and cuddled.
Blythe attended her first church service and slept right through it.
She also made her first youth group appearance. The kids are SO incredibly excited about Blythe and have welcomed her with open arms.
Blythe has also developed a great relationship with her doctor. Her first week of life we visited for her one week check up. Her second week of life we visited for a clogged tear duct and her third week for an eye infection for the other eye. Last week we had her one month check up.
At her month check up we found out that she has grown 3/4 of an inch so she is now 22 1/4 inches and weighs 9 lbs 13 oz. She is in the 98th percentile for height!
She is a great eater! As her weight gain shows. :)
She is wearing size 1 diapers already and can wear lots of her 3 month clothes.
Blythe is also doing a great job sleeping. She only gets up once a night and sleeps in 3 to 4 hour chunks. Getting sleep makes all the difference!

Our sweet friend Julie gave us these onesies. There are 12, one for every month so we can document her growth in her first year. So here is month 1. She will always be sitting by her lamb so we can see how much she has grown from month to month.

Lulu and Pops

2010-03-24T20:03:00.004-05:00

3/24/2010

My parents left on Monday of this week. My mom had been able to be here for 9 days and my dad was able to be here of 4 of those days. They confirmed our fears on their arrival! Blythe is GROWING!!!! Although we knew this was true it's so hard to believe how much she has changed from their last visit. Having them here is always a treat and this one was no exception. Right after Blythe was born, their visit was a blur. We were trying to figure out how to be parents and we were very sleep deprived. This time we were able to really enjoy our time together! We got to eat meals out, Currey and I got to enjoy time out together, go on walks and enjoy lots of time with Blythe. I was able to get my hair done, they had our house cleaned and did countless loads of laundry and dishes. Another great perk was the Starbucks and breakfast that they brought over each morning. We'll just say that Blythe is not the only one who was spoiled!!!!

Our Precious Peanut

Reading with Lulu
(My mom has a picture from when I'm a baby of my Gram reading this book to me)

Walking with Pops

She has them wrapped around her finger!

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great trip! Can't wait to see you soon! We love you lots!

More Pictures

2010-03-14T15:26:00.002-05:00

3/14/2010

Just a quick update! Amy updated her blog with more pictures from our family photo session. We LOVE the one with Moose! Amy is amazing and super talented. Enjoy the pictures!

2 Weeks Ago Today...

2010-03-10T17:44:00.003-06:00

3/10/2010

Two weeks ago today, our lives were forever changed when this precious child entered the world.

I want to remember the details of that day forever so I'm devoting a post to it. It will be lengthy, so if you don't want to read all the details I will completely understand. But to us, it's the sweetest story and there is not one moment that we want to forget.

It all began Tuesday February 23. Our small group had been canceled so we had the evening free. Blythe's room was a WRECK as all the sweet gifts we had been blessed with had not found a place. We decided to take the evening to clean our house and I am SO glad that we did. We cleaned our room and set up the pack'n'play so Blythe would have somewhere to sleep. We got her room organized, folded laundry and put it away and worked on cleaning the rest of the house. When we finished we felt such a sense of accomplishment! And for the first time, we actually felt "ready". We knew that being ready for a baby is not possible but we finally reached a point where we knew there was nothing else we could do to prepare.

Well...maybe one more thing. Going into this I knew that Labor and Delivery would be an interesting process. As strange as it sounds, from the beginning of my pregnancy I had said I wanted painted toes and shaved legs when my child entered the world. These were the things that I could control in the process and things that would make me feel good as well. So after our cleaning marathon my sweet husband painted my toenails. Have I mentioned I adore him? Well just in case I haven't, I adore him. Currey is amazing!

We didn't know those would be some of our last moments "just us" and it's a time I will always treasure. We laughed and talked about our baby. We continued to wonder when she would come. We went to bed about 11 and I woke up at 1:30 to a very strange sensation. My water had broken! I woke Currey to verify that my water had broken which he quickly confirmed. What else could have happened! We called the hospital to let them know we were on our way. The drive there was surreal. Although we knew on our drive home we would be returning with a baby, it was hard to fathom on the way there.

The week before Margie Schroeder had called and asked where I would be delivering. When I told her she stated that the woman who had Margie's job previously was now living in Illinois and worked at the hospital where I would be delivering. This nurse happened to be at Margie's school visiting so I was able to talk to her. We talked about how fun it would be if she was working when I delivered but thought it would be highly unlikely. Imagine our surprise when she greeted us at the hospital. God is SO incredibly good and I was really put at ease swapping stories about Amarillo with Tracy. She was so easy to talk to and convinced me at 4 am that my mother would be ok to be woken up so she could get on the first plane out of Amarillo. She was super attentive and handpicked my nurse when her shift ended. Our next nurse was Margaret who was equally amazing. I honestly can't say enough positive things about the labor and delivery nurses! About this time I got my epidural and we began to wait.

I loved my anesthesiologist! Once I wasn't feeling any more pain I was able to get some much needed sleep. Unfortunately Margaret had to leave us to go and be the charge nurse but she was replaced by Lisa. This change took place about the time I started pushing. Although I was initially unsettled by this, we quickly feel in love with our new nurse Lisa. She was exactly who I need during all 3 HOURS of PUSHING! No need to recount those details...but the end result was our precious baby girl.

There are not words to describe all the emotions that we felt when we saw Blythe for the very first time. Seeing that she was healthy and perfect was a great blessing! Getting to watch Currey with her in those first few moments was priceless. Once she was all cleaned up and in my arms my mom finally got to come in. She had arrived at the hospital just when I began pushing so she had been in the waiting room for 3 hours! The joy on her face! We stayed at the hospital until Friday and I could not wait to get home. We are so greatful for a safe labor and delivery. We were really blessed by emails and phone calls from so many sweet family members and friends. We are all adjusting well to being at home. I'll do another post soon about life after the hospital.

Pictures!

2010-03-07T20:06:00.002-06:00

3/7/10

So we are home. We have tons of pictures from the hospital and since we've gotten home but we are having issues with our card reader. To tide you all over until then check out our friend Amy's Blog. She has posted 3 pics from our recent photo session. The pictures are amazing! We can't wait to see the rest!

Never a Dull Moment!

2010-02-19T15:38:00.002-06:00

2/19/2010

I have almost survived my first week at home not working. Monday was the WORST day by far! We'll just say that I don't sit still well and by the time Currey was home from work I was stir crazy. I'd been to the grocery store, done 3 loads of laundry, worked on a Junior League Project for 5 hours and made dinner. It was only 7 pm and I was going crazy. Thankfully Tuesday was a pretty full day with things to do, Wednesday was pretty slow but I tired to enjoy getting rest and yesterday I had plenty to keep me busy.

I talked with a friend, chatted with my mom, made cookies for youth group and a dinner for a friend. We had a great evening at youth group. There were a couple of kids left with our pastor and another dad. Everyone was heading out and Moose snapped at Gracie. No big fight, growling dogs or any drama. Gracie whimpered a bit but walked away. One of the kids said they thought they saw blood so I checked her face.

(IF YOU DO NOT LIKE GROSS THINGS DO NOT KEEP READING!!!! I'LL JUST SAY THAT YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!!)

Gracie wasn't bleeding but her eyeball was no longer in it's socket! We'll just say that I've never seen anything so disgusting. Thankfully I was our vet's nanny so I called him at home. We rushed straight to the animal hospital where she was examined. She didn't cry or seem irritated. Currey and I were doing enough of that for her! We were told what we feared. It was a freak accident but Shit Zhus are known for having eye problems. They had tested the eye and she had lost all vision. Even worse, it was her "good" eye. When we adopted her she had had 2 surgeries on her other eye. We were assured that she still had vision out of her "bad" eye and would not be completely blind. After discussing our options with the doctor we decided to have the eye removed. I was hysterical and bawled like a baby through most of our time there. She did great in surgery and we brought her home this morning. She's way drugged and at this point looks atrocious. We've laughed that she is such a fighter. Even though she's not 100%, she's showing several of her Gracie behaviors! We believe that she will make a full recovery but it is painful to she her in this state.

We also thought that Blythe would be joining us last night as well. The stress of the evening prompted contractions but once we found out that Gracie would be fine, they stopped. All and all an interesting evening. We are glad that she is safe and hope there is no more excitement in our home until sweet Blythe arrives!

Friends

2010-02-13T13:20:00.004-06:00

2/13/2010

Currey and I have been so blessed with great friends during different seasons of life. We both have dear childhood friends that we keep in contact with as well as friends we've kept up with since college. Since getting married, we've made couple friends, mentoring friends and work friends. While we are greatly blessed by all the friendships in our lives, there are those that absolutely have an extra special place in our hearts.

Two of those friends are Ryan and Krisitne. (Ryan, I stole this off your facebook! Thanks!)

They are friends that we have done A LOT of life with, including....

Graduations

Time at Moody

And even celebrating holidays together

We have seen Ryan as part of our family since before we got married. We share priceless memories together. It's been a blast to watch he and Kristine fall in love and marry! Their love for the Lord and for one another is inspiring. Kristine is precious and we've enjoyed getting to know her over the past few years. We look forward to continuing to make memories with the Brandenbergers for years to come. They are the friends that even when you have not seen them in months (like 6 months, since their wedding!) you pick up right where you left off. Somehow minutes turn into hours and you aren't sure where the time went. The friends that when you leave them you feel encouraged and rejuvenated. They drove from Iowa to see us. They were hoping to meet Blythe but unfortunately she appears to be staying put for the time being. They took us out for dinner and ice cream to celebrate this exciting new phase of life we are entering. It was a sweet gift and a memorable evening with precious friends. We love you both and can't wait to see you again. Hopefully sooner than 6 months! Blythe won't be able to wait that long!

This goes out to the one I love

2010-01-31T08:34:00.002-06:00

1/31/2010

With all that's been going on with us, I thought that Currey needed his own shout out! I will completely understand if people don't want to read this long post and that's totally fine. It's more for me. Just another reminder that God is so good! Currey is a perfect match for me and I praise God for his goodness in bringing us together.

So without further adieu and in no particular order, the Top Ten Reasons I Adore Currey.

10. He challenges me in all areas of life. Whether it's a book he's reading or a conversation he had with his mentor, he constantly challenges how I think and respond to those around me. Currey encourages me in all I'm involved in and kindly reminds me of why I'm doing something if I've lost my original zeal. He is always striving to grow and mature and encourages me to do the same.

9. He loves to spend time with me. Due to having bronchitis and then having contractions, I missed 3 weeks of work in the last month. It was such a treat to get to spend so much time with Currey, especially as we know once Blythe comes our time together will be even more sparse. What I also loved were the calls and text messages once I returned to work, telling me it wasn't near as fun when I wasn't home. (And I felt the same way!) I love that we spent 3 weeks together and could have been just fine spending 3 more weeks together.

8. He makes me laugh. A LOT!!! Tying into the last one, we love to be together because we have so much fun. We laugh often and don't take life to seriously! Honestly, Currey could entertain me for hours. He is quick witted and clever and I enjoy his company immensely.

7. He is so excited about Blythe. I can't wait to meet our baby girl for so many reasons, but one at the top of my list is to see Currey as her Daddy. I joke with him that he is already wrapped around her finger but I think there's more truth in that than either of us would admit! I love that he talks to her, that he talks about her and that he already dreams big dreams for her life. She will be loved and adored and I'm so excited that I get to parent her with Currey.

6. He makes me rest. I understand that this probably sounds strange but it's true! I've continued to have contractions and although they haven't kept me from working, I've been encouraged to rest whenever I can. This is very difficult for me and I do not enjoy being still. Currey is much more reasonable than I am (again, God is amazing in giving me a partner that has strengths in areas that I do not) and has made it his mission to have me rest whenever I'm home. He's doing a good job! I'm afraid I'm getting lazy with all my sitting around! :)

5. He takes care of the house. We have always pretty equally shared the housework load. Whoever had the time to do something would do it. Now that I'm resting so much Currey has really stepped it up in taking care of the house. He's doing most of the dishes, laundry and cleaning so that the house doesn't become a disaster while I'm not doing much.

4. He works incredibly hard. As long as I've know Currey, he has been a very hard worker. After doing Strengths Finder together we believe this is because one of his strengths is achiever but never the less, he works hard. He gives 110% to the youth ministry and at Starbucks. In addition, he spends time every week being mentored and mentoring others. I admire his willingness to give all he has and that he never expects anything in return.

3. He has a servant's heart. Not only is Currey doing all this great stuff, he never complains. He appears to take joy in serving me and others in his life. Currey has an immense love for people and he loves to serve God's people. He honestly inspires me!

2. He cooks with me. One of our favorite places to be is in the kitchen. Whether we are trying a new recipe or making an old favorite, it's always an adventure. We love food and there is something so fun about cooking together! In my time off we enjoyed several cooking adventures, hopefully some that will get their own posts very soon!

1. He loves me! Just like I am. I think it's safe to say that while pregnant one does not always feel incredibly lovable. With only 4 weeks left til my due date I simply feel BIG and that's about it. I love that Currey still comments that I look cute or that I'm not that big (when a small child at Target said I was a school bus! NOT FUN!) Not only his words but his actions remind me on a daily basis that I am truly and deeply loved.

So there you have it! I am blessed beyond measure and I praise God for his precious gift of Currey. I can't imagine life without him. He's a blessing to all that know him and I'm so glad that he's mine!

Giveaway

2010-01-24T19:50:00.002-06:00

1/24/2009

I just read about this giveaway and wanted to make any other interested parties aware! Although I think it's unlikely I'll win, I'll give it a try!

Go here to read more about the cloth diaper give away!

JJ

Here We Go Again...

2010-01-24T08:18:00.003-06:00

1/24/2009

Currey and I have decided that our sweet baby girl is already ornery! I had my shower with people from church yesterday and had a great morning. I'll post pictures from that soon! I got home and Currey was at work. I began having that same cramping feeling that I was having last week. I waited half an hour to see if it would go away but it continued and they were more painful, so I called the doctor. She recommended that I return to the hospital for monitoring. I contemplated driving myself but knew that would not make Currey very happy so I called a sweet friend from next door to take me. I'm convinced she ran to the house as I was not at ALL ready when she got here. We headed to the hospital, got hooked up to the machines and saw that I was again having contractions.

Thankfully this visit was much shorter. They realized I was not dehydrated and gave me another shot of medicine to help stop the contractions. The medicine worked much quicker than last time and the contractions stopped within a half hour. I was released to go home after a couple of hours. It appears that Bylthe is not quite sure when she would like to make her appearance! We laugh that she already has an agenda and we are already following it! We are glad she continues to be healthy and continue to speculate as to when we might get to welcome her to the world.

Blythe's First Shower

2010-01-20T13:05:00.007-06:00

1/20/2009

I think this may be my last overdue post. While we were home for Thanksgiving our sweet Texas friends and family hosted a baby shower for us. We were beyond blessed (as the pictures will show!) Blythe has more clothes than she can ever wear but she will be the best dressed baby ever! Saturday night we had a mini shower with Jeffrey and his girlfriend Megan. If I haven't said it before, we LOVE Megan. Not only is she thrilled about our sweet baby girl, she is a great fit for Jeffrey. She is precious, thoughtful, and we have loved getting to know her. Some of my favorite outfits came from Megan. She wrapped each one separately so it was extra fun to unwrap!

Although this is not the most becoming picture I had to include it. It may be my absolute favorite! It's a monogrammed onsie and then there are matching pink fleece lined jeans. Precious does not even begin to describe this outfit!

Jeffrey got me this book. We read this whole series when we were little so it was extra special!

Margie hosted my shower. LOVE her! It was perfect!

Here's all the hostesses.

Mallory sat with me to write down all the gifts. We laughed A LOT! She flew in from California to be there with me.

Smithee was there from Portland. Another special treat!

Currey's Mom, Grandma, Sister and I

The blanket that Terri (Currey's mom) made Blythe

A precious bulletin board that Currey's sister, Caley, made

My Aunt Olivia, Mema, Me, Mom and Megan

Just me and mom

Like I said, Blythe will not want for a single thing! Everything wouldn't even fit in one picture. It took lots of help to get everything to Illinois. Thanks Mom and Dad and the Schroeders!

We have felt so incredibly loved during this season of our lives. The outpouring of those around us has honestly been overwhelming. And we still have an additional 2 showers! We are blessed beyond measure. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll post nursery pictures. The nursery is precious and totally girl! With all the pink we keep joking that the sonogram better be right!

Practice Run!

2010-01-16T21:13:00.002-06:00

1/16/2010

For starters, this is going to be a long post. And I share all the details of our day, not to be depressing or ultra graphic, but because you are close friends. Those of you that knew what was going on were so sweet to call, text and send emails. And honestly, it's a much easier story to tell because there was a happy ending. As a family Currey and I have made a conscious decision to tell our stories of God's goodness. We believe this is one of those stories.

Yesterday was a very eventful day at the Blandford House! I was going on a home visit yesterday morning and begin having cramps. I continued driving thinking that they would go away but they continued to persist. I was headed to Southern Illinois and decided that I should turn around and call my doctor. I called Currey first and gave him a head's up because I didn't think I should go on the youth retreat that we were planning for this weekend. I was feeling very tired and thought a weekend away might not be the best idea. I then called my doctor expecting that I would be told to go home and rest (I'm convinced that's the resolution to all pregnancy issues!). I became much more concerned when she told me that I should go to the hospital. Thankfully, Currey was home and the house is only 10 minutes from the hospital. The nurse agreed that being with Currey was my best bet so I came home and we headed out. Honestly, I was expecting to get an exam and then be on my merry way. I was shocked when I was admitted to Labor and Delivery as a patient!

They began monitoring me as well as Blythe's heartbeat. It was quickly confirmed that I was having contractions. They explained all the things that could be causing this and began trying to isolate which issue it might be. It was unnerving to lay in a hospital bed and wait. They were concerned that I was dehydrated and starting pumping me with fluids. We were also told that it could be a lingering infection from my recent bought of bronchitis. I went in at 11 am and by 4 pm I was having consistent contractions. That was the scariest part of the day as we knew deleivery at this point was less than ideal. It was decided that I was not dehydrated but the contractions began to subside some. We had to make the sad decision to cancel our youth retreat that was planned for the weekend. It was a tough call to make as we had planned a lot of great activities and the kids were SO excited about our adventure! But we had no idea when or if I would be leaving the hospital so it was the wisest decision for us to make.

As I continued to have contractions, the staff began to discuss additional options with us. They decided the next action was a shot of medicine that would hopefully stop the contractions. I was given the shot and it took awhile to see improvement. I had to be contraction free for an hour before I could be discharged. We were thrilled to have the contractions slow and were hoping to get home to sleep in our own bed. We had to wait awhile as when I got close to an hour I would have a contraction. Finally, around 10 pm I was contraction free. We were discharged shortly thereafter and got to sleep in our own bed last night.

We are so relieved that Blythe decided not to make her debut! She will be full term in 3 weeks so any time AFTER that she can enter the world. They have no idea what caused the contractions so I will be monitored more closely until I deliver. We were also thrilled to hear that the contractions were only preterm contractions and there were no signs that I was going into labor. Another HUGE blessing!

By canceling the retreat, all the youth parents quickly found out about what was going on. Currey had to find someone to cover his shift so Starbucks people quickly knew as well. I had to leave work as well so my coworkers were aware. We were so incredibly blessed by all the people in our lives! We received so many sweet words of encouragement and felt incredibly loved through the entire ordeal. Thank you all for your thoughtfulness! We will keep you posted and hopefully Blythe will stay put a while longer.

Trip to Branson

2010-01-10T08:10:00.006-06:00

1/10/2010

As promised...our Branson trip!

The last week of October we met my parents in Branson for a week long vacation. Everyone we told that we were going to Branson would laugh because when most people think of Branson they see images of elderly people attending cheesy shows. We grew up spending time each summer at Big Cedar, a resort outside Branson on Table Rock Lake, after my parents picked Jeffrey and I up from camp. It's an amazing place and it was a special treat to be able to take Currey to a place that held so many memories for my family!

I can honestly say it's the most relaxing vacation I've ever been on. We spent time reading, working on a puzzle, walking, cooking, eating and shopping. Currey and my dad even took a day trip to go fly fishing together. My mom and I got to spend that day shopping which was a blast as we had found out a week earlier that our sweet baby is a girl.

When we arrived at Big Cedar the leaves were beginning to change and the colors were amazing. Here's a look at the week in pictures. It's several pictures but I promise I narrowed it down!

It's a beautiful property that we enjoyed walking around every day. It's HUGE and has great views which we took advantage of by enjoying lots of picture opportunities.

Everything was beautifully decorated for fall.

This is the skunk that lived outside our rooms. We saw him everyday and my dad got his picture. We were convinced my dad was going to get sprayed on his quest but thankfully that was NOT the case.

There are several restaurants on the property that we took advantage of. We enjoyed lunch on the outdoor patio at Truman Coffee and Cafe....

And an outstanding dinner at the Worman House.

The boys didn't take any pictures while fishing so we had them take this with a truck from the White River.

And like I said, we relaxed a lot!

And I just love this picture so it's getting put in!

It was a wonderful trip and we enjoyed it so much we are talking about making it an annual event. More overdue posts to come!

The Year in Review

2010-01-01T19:39:00.016-06:00

1/1/2010

I can't believe that it's already 2010! This year will be huge for us as we await the arrival of our sweet baby girl but before we look forward I thought that it would be fun look back at all 2009 held for our little family. This is bound to be a lengthy post, but we have been talking a lot recently about reflecting on God's goodness in our lives. Looking back at the milestones of the last year we can see God's hand in our lives guiding and directing each step along the way.

January was a big month for us as we decided that we would be staying in Illinois and moving into a greater role within the church we had been attending for a year and a half. We were leading a small group with our best buddies, Devin and Andrea, and spent a lot of time celebrating life with the sweet friends Life Church has brought us.

Moose also had leg surgery that month. We realize that we are insane for paying for surgery for our dog but it was the best choice for us and he is a much healthier and happier puppy.

In February I decided to leave my job without having a plan as to where I would begin working. It was a season were our faith was grown and we trusted in the Lord's provision. It was a scary experience but we are so glad that is the decision that we made. I was able to begin my current job after getting 2 weeks off, one to enjoy with Currey while he was on Spring Break and the following with my mom. It was a blast and a precious time of rest and restoration for me.

At Easter, my brother Jeffrey came for a visit. I love his visits! I love that he and Currey love to be together and we make precious memories and have interesting adventures with each visit. This year he got to be a part of our Seder Supper at church.

May held several milestones for us, the most significant being Currey's graduation from Wheaton. He worked ridiculously hard for 3 years for both of his degrees and it was such a treat to celebrate that accomplishment with friends and family!

Another event for us was Currey being the guest speaker at the All Church Retreat for the youth. What no one else knew at the time was that we would be taking over as the youth pastors at Life Church. We had a summer full of fun events and loved growing in relationships with all the students in the youth group.

In July we celebrated 4 years of wedded bliss. At our wonderful anniversary dinner, my sickness prompted the purchase of a pregnancy test. Our anniversary gift this year was finding out we were expecting our first child. Probably the most exciting anniversary gift that anyone could ever receive!

In August, we went to South Carolina to watch Kristine and Ryan get married. It was a wonderful vacation and such a special wedding to be a part of.

In September, Jeffrey and his girlfriend Megan came up for a visit. It was our first time to meet Megan and we had so much fun with them. We love Megan and enjoyed getting to explore Chicago with she and Jeffrey. (These pictures are from Megan's facebook. She takes great pictures and captured so many of the fun moments of the trip!) Jeffrey and Currey even tried chicken feet while were in Chinatown!

In October we found out that we would be having a baby girl! We were thrilled with the news and continue to anxiously await her arrival. We also went to Big Cedar Lodge with my parents. It was the most relaxing vacation that I remember being on and it was good to spend a week relaxing. (This trip will get it's own post SOON! As will November and December! I promise that they are coming!)

November was wonderful as we got to go home to have a baby shower and celebrate Thanksgiving with all of our family and friends. We were showered with sweet blessings for Blythe and enjoyed getting to spend time with our families. As always our time at home went by way to fast but we treasured each moment we were there.

December has flown by. We had a quiet Christmas just Currey and I and have enjoyed having my parents here for the past week. They have helped us get the nursery all put together and of course there will be a post coming soon revealing the finished project! What a great year we've had. We look forward to more adventures and life changes as we enter 2010.

Christmas Eve 2009

2009-12-24T21:53:00.002-06:00

12/24/2009

Although we miss not being home with family, Currey and I have had a wonderful Christmas Eve. We both had to work this morning but made it home in time to have lunch, read and watch TV. We have been so busy it's been so nice to spend an entire afternoon relaxing. I made a roast for dinner and then we went to look at Christmas lights. It's my favorite part of the holiday season and we have not been able to go yet this year. My precious husband drove me all over Chicago land to find a neighborhood with lights. We'll just say that they don't decorate here like they do in Texas. A great end to a great day!

And sweet Blythe got me a present. Currey and I don't do Christmas gifts for each other. We haven't since our first year of dating. Instead we pick a project together to do and use the money we would have spent on each other to help another cause. I've been talking a lot with Currey about missing cooking and he knew he couldn't break our no gift rule, so "Blythe" got me a cookbook. Sneaky, but such a pleasant surprise. You may or may not have noticed a serious lack of recipes on the blog these days. (Ok...I acknowledge that there is a lack of posting over all as well!) My job does not always allow me to cook like I used to and I'm hoping to return to lots of cooking in the near future! So I got Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". I am thrilled. I was joking with Currey that most wives would be offended if they received a cookbook for Christmas but I've already spent a couple of hours reading through it. Hopefully we'll try something from it soon! Hope you are all enjoying time with family and friends. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Maternity Pictures

2009-12-05T20:18:00.005-06:00

12/5/09

While on vacation with my parents in October (that post will be written one day!) my mom mentioned that a family friend was starting a photography business and would be doing pictures during Thanksgiving. Currey and I decided that we wanted to remember this season of life so we asked my mom to arrange for the pictures to be taken. Jennifer Jenkins is an Amarillo girl and we decided that I hadn't seen her since she was in middle school. It was crazy to see her in her element and all grown up but as the pictures show, she is really talented! Our Christmas card displays our favorite picture but here are some of the other ones that we love.

This one may be my favorite

We love all of the pictures because we feel like she really captured us.

My mom was able to come for the end of our session. I LOVE this picture of us!

We were SO pleased with her work! If you live in the Amarillo area or will be around at Christmas and are interested in pictures let me know and I'll get you her info. I'm working at being better at updating...we'll see how it goes!

Super Cheap Chirstmas Cards

2009-11-28T13:35:00.002-06:00

11/28/09

I know it's been awhile since I've blogged. There's lots to write about but for now I wanted to share this unbelievable deal! You can read all the details here on Money Saving Mom's blog. For the price of shipping ($3.19 per order of 50) you can get FREE Christmas cards! And I can attest that it works! There are 2 different codes so you can order 50 twice, pay shipping twice and get 100 Christmas card for $6.38. I guarantee you won't find a better deal anywhere. I have been meaning to order ours as this deal ends Monday November 30th but knew we would get cute pictures while we were home. We got maternity pictures taken and I LOVE how they turned out but more on that later! I love the card we made. I can't wait to send them out. I love when the Christmas cards start rolling in. Checking the mail every day is a treat! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Now go order those cheap Christmas cards!

Grow Baby Grow

2009-11-07T21:29:00.004-06:00

11/7/2009

One of the strangest things about being pregnant away from friends and family is that no one gets to watch my belly grow. We recently returned from vacation with my parents and it was so weird for them to see me. Currey and I have obviously watched my belly grow but my parents saw me for the first time at 22 weeks. So for the rest of you, here's what I look like these days. Please disregard the outfits and hair in these pictures! My original idea was to take a picture every 2 weeks but that has not worked out so well. We normally remember late at night so I'm not looking my best.

This was at 16 weeks
At this point in time our baby was as big as a lemon hence the lemon.

This was at 20 weeks

So there you have it! Baby is growing like crazy. More pictures and updates coming soon!

It's a......

2009-10-30T22:12:00.001-05:00

GIRL!!!

Although by this point in time, I realize that most of you readers know our exciting news, I wanted to officially announce our sweet baby's gender. Honestly, we were so surprised! Although everyone we know believed that baby was a girl, Currey and I have thought our baby was a boy. Of course we are thrilled and loved getting to see her at our last doctor appointment. Modern medicine is AMAZING! We were able to see her face, hands and feet as well as the tiny details like her ears. We were totally awe struck. And thankful, as our doctor reported that everything about her looks perfect. We are thrilled that everything looks right on track. I've been feeling her move a lot lately and can't wait until Currey gets to experience that milestone as well. Hopefully I'll be back soon to write about the vacation we just returned from. We continue to be amazed at how faithful God is in his provision and our enthusiasm grows as we get closer to the day that we get to meet our sweet daughter.

Happy Anniversary to Us!!

2009-09-20T07:56:00.002-05:00

9-20-2009

This year we celebrated our anniversary like any other year. (In keeping with my theme of super late posts...our anniversary is on July 17 th.) We were more excited about our gift of an ice cream maker attachment for our mixer than anything but headed to dinner before going shopping. We had a gift card to Cheesecake Factory (thanks Auntie J!) so that's where we decided on for dinner. I had not been feeling well for several weeks but when I am stressed my symptoms mimic pregnancy. I got incredibly sick during dinner so we cut it short. I did regain enough composer to pick up an ice cream maker (my love of ice cream can overcome most obstacles!) and made Currey run by Target to get me a pregnancy test.

This may sound completely normal for someone not feeling well, but as many of you know I'm not "normal". :) One of the first questions my doctor asks me at most appointments is if I could be pregnant. If I haven't taken a test then they will do a blood test which is much more costly than a home test from Target! So I take pregnancy tests before most appointments just so I can tell my doctor that I'm NOT pregnant and save myself $50. Yes...I am that cheap! When we arrived home I took my test and a second line almost immediately appeared! I began screaming for Currey so he could reread the directions and verify what that second line meant. He was immediately elated. I however spent the next 48 hours in utter shock. I had so many questions, mainly how would this effect the adoption we had been dreaming of. I felt like I was betraying the children we were waiting for without even planning to. Thankfully, we have precious friends and family that God has used to comfort my heart. We still plan on adopting, it will just be on a different time table than we had originally intended. I took another test the following morning and then another that afternoon. All tests continued to confirm that I was indeed pregnant.

We found out our exciting news just before staff retreat. Originally we decided we would not tell anyone until I had reached the 12 week marker but we quickly realized that we would have to tell the rest of staff if we were spending a week together on a lake. We couldn't tell staff before telling our families so we began making phone calls. That was one of the highlights of this experience for me. Our families have been SO incredibly supportive of our adoption but news that their first grandchild was coming sooner than expected was incredibly welcomed news!

I was able to go to the doctor upon returning from staff retreat. I was at 9 weeks and we were able to have our first sonogram. There is no better feeling than seeing your baby for the first time and at that point the experience had become so much more real! The fewer clothes that fit, certain smells making me sick, not being able to focus until I have ________ to eat and watching my belly grow continue to validate that this is a real experience. I have been to the doctor again and Baby Blandford continues to have a strong heart beat. I go again this Tuesday and then a month from Tuesday we will get to find out Baby's gender. I CAN NOT WAIT!!!

The Rest of Our Summer

2009-09-02T21:47:00.006-05:00

9/2/09

I know, I know...two in one day! As I've mentioned previously, we've been hired by our church as the new youth pastors. Part of the reason that we love our church is that they view us as equal so hiring Currey meant that they got me as well. I have loved getting to do ministry with Currey. I will not even pretend that I've worked as hard as Currey but it has been a joy to get to know the kids and watch Currey in action. We have spent the summer doing weekly activities, either at our house or out in the community. We can't believe we get paid to hang out with such precious children. Currey made a video for church to show what we've been up to. Hope you enjoy a peek into our summer fun!

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

2009-09-02T21:11:00.008-05:00

9/2/09

So I haven't created as many posts as I've planned but I'll get caught up eventually! We've got ALOT going on...but we'll get to that post one day.

Currey graduated from Wheaton the second weekend in May. I must admit that I'm glad I've waited on this post. I've had more time to think about that day and all that it meant for us. Graduation was a huge milestone for us. Currey has been in school our entire married life. I don't think that I anticipated graduation being such an emotional day. It's hard to put into words how significant that day was because if you weren't living it, it was just not the same. I always joke with Currey that he should have done better in picking a wife and found someone that could have supported him through school. Thankfully Currey loves and supports what I do but he had to work full time during all four years of school that we were married. That's a lot to balance but on top of that he volunteered at an inner city ministry, was active in our church, attended small group and worked diligently at our marriage. He worked long hours at a job that isn't glamorous and managed to maintain great grades while balancing it all. I am so incredibly proud of all that he accomplished and the more I reflect on that special day the more proud I feel. God taught us so much during this season of life. We would both admit that it's very strange that he hasn't returned to school this fall. But new adventures await! Currey got such a strong foundation while at Moody and Wheaton. We look forward to seeing how God uses all that education to further his kingdom!

Currey and Ryan graduating together for the 2nd time

Me and the Graduate

Rick and Shelly

Roger and Terri

Mim and Gramps

Colby 19 Buddies from Moody

Currey with Dr. Larson

We're Back!

2009-08-17T22:24:00.002-05:00

8/17/2009

Well I've been on blog hiatus! I'm sure you've noticed. But finally I've uploaded pictures and I'm ready to report. There has been SO much going on and for my own benefit I want to remember it all. So we are back tracking...really back tracking!

May 1st was Currey's birthday. Birthdays are a big deal at our house and we love celebrating together and with friends. This year Currey's birthday was a little different as we were about to move and he was graduating a week after his birthday. When I asked Currey how he wanted to celebrate this year he said dessert night with friends. Our sweet friend Amy knew our house was already in boxes and offered her apartment for our celebration. For birthdays I'll make whatever dessert Currey wants. This year he got 3!!! He has good taste and we enjoyed them all!

An Old Favorite

My mom makes Jello Pretzel Salad (and I'll be the first to admit that I don't have it mastered yet!) and it's one of Currey's favorites. If you've spent any time around my family you have probably had this at our house. It's a weird combo but absolutely delicious!

A New Favorite

I found this recipe for Eclair Cake online and it was amazing! We've had it several times since then and our friends have even begun requesting it.

A New Twist

We love Oreo ice cream cake and this was a cream cheese Oreo cake. Really yummy but incredibly rich. The candles made it!

Currey after eating so much dessert

Hanging out with friends.

Although I didn't get great pictures, we had a great time celebrating with friends from small group. It was great to spend time celebrating Currey and looking back over another year of growth and blessings. God has been so good to us this year and it was a treat to reflect and celebrate!

Currey's Latest Sermon

2009-07-11T13:17:00.002-05:00

7/11/09

Hi all! I am still missing my camera cord and have about decided to just get another. There has been a lot going on that I want to document so we will be playing major catch up! Until we can show you pictures about all that is going on we love to share Currey's latest sermon. It is apparent that God has gifted Currey with the gift of teaching. It was extra special as both of my parents were here and got to hear it in person. It was sweet treat! The sermon can be found here.

Once to the page look for the sermon on 7-5-09, Our Hope is Found in a Mighty God. Even though I'm a little biased I think it's more than worth your time!

Pictures and stories will be coming soon!

It's Official!!!

2009-06-27T21:27:00.002-05:00

6/27/09

We are excited to announce that Currey is officially on staff at our church! We were presented last Sunday and have already had 2 great activities with the kids. We could not be happier! I am so amazed at the goodness of God. We are blessed beyond measure by our church family. It is a joy for me to get to work with Currey and see him in ministry. I am beyond thankful that God has provided a place where they love Currey and allow him to use the gifts that he has been given.

In other news...there will be updates soon. I'm now 2 months behind but with Currey's new position and my new job time for blogging becomes even more limited. And there could be the possibility that I haven't totally unpacked and haven't discovered my photo cord! :) More to come soon!

Updates Coming Soon!

2009-05-29T16:52:00.002-05:00

5/29/09

Hi all! So it's been a month since my last post...we've been busy. There will soon be several posts updating where we have been once I find my cord to upload pictures. One recent event is our move and we still aren't completely settled. Hopefully by next week it will be found! Enjoy your weekend!

Easter Visitor

2009-04-29T21:26:00.004-05:00

4/29/09

Jeffrey came to visit us this Easter. It was such a fun trip. We love having company. Jeffrey has visited enough that he had places he wanted to go and restaurants he wanted to eat at which is fun. We laughed a lot, ate a ton and enjoyed some quality time together.

He got in on Friday afternoon and we ran errands and had lunch. We hung out that afternoon and then I made dinner for friends. We then went to a Seder Supper at our church. It was a really interesting experience.

Saturday morning we got up and I made donuts. It's one of my new favorite breakfasts. It's supper easy and I'll put the recipe up soon.

We then headed to the city for Dim Sum in China Town. It's one of Jeffrey's favorites and did not disappoint. We spent time in China Town and then went to see Vic and Ryan. There is a Pakistani place that Currey loves and I refuse to eat at. Currey was thrilled that Jeffrey requested to eat there.

We then met my friends Nancy and Griselda for a movie.

It was outstanding and if you get the chance you should see it. Sunday we went to church, ate lunch with friends and then watched the Masters. Several friends came over that night and we played Wii which is always an adventure.

Monday we headed back to China Town and got Jeffrey's girlfriend a wallet. We ended the trip with pizza at Giordano's. It was a great trip and we loved getting to see Jeffrey!

Our New Blog

2009-04-05T09:25:00.003-05:00

4/5/09

As many of you know, we dream of expanding our family through adoption. We are excited to report that after lots of pray, planning and dreaming we have officially begun our adoption process. We want to be able to remember each moment of the journey so we have started a new blog here. As we progress on our journey we will update it. We are so excited and look forward to sharing our journey with you!

Week 2

2009-04-02T22:26:00.002-05:00

4/2/09

I'm in week 2 of my new job and I am enjoying it. I am still learning so much and have to complete a 9 week training program through the state. Unfortunately I could not enroll in it until April 27th so that means that I won't carry my own cases until July. I am a little impatient but believe that the Lord is giving me a slower pace to adjust to a new surrounding. I continue to adjust to such a happy work environment! The team gets along really well and my new supervisor is very enthusiastic. I'm excited for this opportunity and I'm affirmed that I made the right decision about leaving my last job.

In other news, last Saturday Currey took his Exegesis Comp. The report from everyone was that it was more difficult than expected so we are waiting in great anticipation for the results.

Other than that a lot of my time is consumed with Cinderella's Closet. We are enjoying my new work hours that allow for more time together, opportunities to spend time with friends and lots of opportunities to try new recipes. Hopefully this weekend I'll get a chance to post a couple. Hope everyone enjoys their Friday and has a happy weekend!

New Job

2009-03-23T22:39:00.002-05:00

3/23/09

So I am officially employed again and we continued to be amazed at the goodness of God. I was able to get 2 full weeks of great rest and relaxation. I was not planning on taking a break but God knew how badly I needed one.

I enjoyed the rest of the week with Currey. Lots of meals together and time with friends. We were able to run errands and do little things around the house like laundry that had piled up. This last week I was able to spend with my mom. It is always such a treat to spend time with her! We cleaned the apartment, shopped a lot, ate great meals, cooked, talked and laughed. She helped me put together a great new wardrobe as I have to really dress up for my new position. It was sad that she had to leave but we are already looking forward to her next visit! And hopefully my dad gets to come too!

The trip was made even sweeter as the day before she came I was offered a position as a foster care worker. I am really excited to be working for the agency and really believe in the work that they are doing. I started today and it was a treat. I was greeted with donuts and spent the day meeting and reading. I'm looking forward to a new chapter of life in social services. There is a lot to learn but I think I am really going to enjoy the team. Looking forward to a new adventure!

Unemployment Day #1

2009-03-09T22:47:00.002-05:00

3/9/09

Last Friday I finished most everything up at work, packed up my desk and hit the road! There are still a few things to finish up at home but I never have to return to the office. It's a GREAT feeling! There are possibilities on the horizon but I will blog about those as they develop.

We continue to be amazed at the goodness of God. I did not realize when I resigned that this week is Currey's spring break. We are getting a whole week together and day one has been outstanding. I got up and was able to work on my Bible study. I took Gracie to the groomer. Moose and I got to spend time at the park with Andrea and her precious daughter Nadia. Currey came home and we watched a movie, picked up Gracie and spent time hanging out with Joe at Wet Nose. We came home and took a nap, enjoyed dinner and headed to the library for more movies and then to the grocery store.

The week is full of breakfasts with friends, cooking at home, movies with Currey, reading books, Bible study and coffee dates. I am thrilled with some time to recuperate and prepare for the next journey that God has in store.

It's official!

2009-02-18T21:56:00.004-06:00

2/18/09

I checked the mail the other day to find a package slip from Wheaton. We were so excited to find out that it was Currey's first diploma! I made him take pictures because I was so excited. So here he is with the first one....

He has worked really hard in school and we are thrilled that he is so close to completing this season of life. In just 3 short months he will be walking the stage. Time has flown by. We are anxious to see what the next phase of life holds for us.

A New Hairdo

2009-02-18T21:32:00.004-06:00

2/18/09

Currey and I have decided that the way I deal with life changes is by chopping of my hair. I've always been willing to let go of lots of my hair (Smithee and Kaki, I'm sure you remember the mushroom 'do in 8th grade!) As soon as we came home from our honeymoon I cut my hair off and the last time I quit my job I did the same. So here it is......

So what you may ask prompted this change? I've resign from my current job. And the scary part is that I don't have another. Things at work have gotten worse and it's been impacting my health again. I started talking with Currey and his suggestion was to quit. I thought about it some more and came back to Currey and again he advised me to quit. We talked and prayed and decided that I would resign. We decided that my health was more important and I was becoming so burned out that I knew I was not benefitting the kids. Another counselor is leaving so if I wanted my kids to be equally divided with the best staff so I decided it was time for me to go as well. We know that God is faithful and we know that he always provides. I gave a month's notice and I'm almost 2 weeks in. It is the scariest decision that I have made up until this point in life. I have an interview tomorrow so we are hopeful that it pans out. If not we know that there is something better waiting for me. I'll keep you posted and would love your prayers.

Feed My Starving Children

2009-02-16T23:06:00.002-06:00

2/16/09

We enjoyed an evening out with several people from our church and small group at an agency called Feed My Starving Children. It was an unbelievable experience where we packed bags of food that will be shipped all over the world to feed starving children.

You can check out more about it here. It was really cool and we look forward to going back again. Hope you are all having a great week!

Where We've Been

2009-02-14T15:28:00.011-06:00

2/14/09

So I've been a major blog slacker recently. Life has been incredibly crazy but we've been doing lots of entertaining since returning home. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

We celebrated Danny's Birthday with wonderful cupcakes and lots of friends from Small Group.

And as always there was lots of Mario Cart on the Wii.

We had an Iron Chef night with 2 of my coworkers. We got a cookbook and both picked an appetizer and entree to try. We spent an evening cooking and eating. We enjoyed it so much that we are planning another one for March with even more friends.

Nancy and Griselda

Our kitchen doesn't hold too many people so I chopped at the kitchen table.

We also enjoyed the Super Bowl with our precious small group

It's been a busy month since we returned home but we have loved getting to spend so much time with our sweet friends.

Still Here

2009-01-28T21:04:00.002-06:00

1/28/09

It's been awhile since my last post. I still have a couple to do from Texas but just have not had much free time to post. So here is a random one until I can get time to do something more substantial.

I am always looking for ways to save money. As we get closer to officially beginning our adoption journey each cent we can save gets us one step closer. While we were home my mom told me about a website called couponmom.com. You sign up for weekly emails and it sends coupons as well as the circular from the grocery store that you choose each week. It's great for meal planning as you can look at coupons and what's on sell. I love the coupons because they are for a few things that I actually buy. (I have been known to buy random stuff to try because I have a coupon which makes me end up spending more.) I also love it because it's free so if I can't use any of them I've haven't lost anything.

Another great site that I have found is moneysavingmom.com. I found it through a friend's blog and I am obsessed. I completed a survey this morning for a one year subscription to Martha Stewart Living FREE! They update several times a day and it is very overwhelming as they show how to combine store specials with coupons to get items for free! I'm amazed at the time they spend figuring all this stuff out but some of the deals are unbelievable! But there are lots of great things if you weed through. I also got a coupon for $1 oatmeal at Jamba Juice. Can't beat a $1 breakfast! I've really enjoyed some of the posts and I've only been on for 2 days. Yeah for saving money!

Hopefully life will slow down soon and I'll post a few more things about what's going on around here!

Christmas Part 2

2009-01-05T21:34:00.001-06:00

1/5/08

Christmas Day

It was a really busy day and we were loved on immensely by all of our family. We were greatly blessed and received such thoughtful and generous gifts. We started at my parents house on Christmas Morning. We always start with our stockings and I got this cute Texas memento.

Jeffrey and Currey got electric drills and matching shave kits.

Notice that they sit together when we open gifts. I love that they are so close and get along so well. They make me laugh!

We then headed to Mim and Gramps to do Christmas with Currey's Dad's family. I love celebrating there with Currey's younger cousins. They are getting older but Bree still gets so excited about the gifts and being a helper who passes everything out. I love it!

There were more matching gifts...

Caley, Currey, Johnathan and Farrell

We then headed to celebrate with Currey's mom's family. Always a treat! We always have such sweet conversation. And while opening gifts we shared several great laughs!

Caley and her Boyfriend John

Roger showing Kori how to work her camera

One of Roger's Unique wrapping jobs.

It was such a sweet day of spending time with family. We enjoyed lots of laughter, received lots of hugs and ate tons of yummy treats. We made lots of sweet memories and soaked up each moment with our families. It was a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Part 1

2009-01-04T22:30:00.008-06:00

1/4/09

I realize that Christmas has already come and gone but I still want to write about our trip to Texas. As always the road trip was an adventure! It took us 3 extra hours to get to Joplin due to the snow and ice. It was a stressful trip! Add in 2 dogs confined to a small space...we were glad to get to Joplin. On Christmas Eve we headed to Amarillo. Thankfully the dogs slept a lot of the day.

We dropped the dog's at my parents and grabbed some lunch at Taco Villa. An Amarillo treat! We then headed to Currey's grandma's then on to his great grandma's. I love getting to experience family traditions with Currey's family. We got to see lots of extended family that we had not seen in a couple of years. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures. We were a little sleep deprived!

We then went back to my parents and had dessert and coffee with the Bob, Margie, Mal and Andrew. Sarah and Jared even came by for a few minutes.

It was such a treat to spend time with them as we had not seen Mal and Andrew since their wedding a year and a half ago. As always my mom took advantage of us being together and had us take lots of pictures.

We headed to the 11 pm candlelight service with my parents, Jeffrey, my grandparents, The Schroeders and Mal and Andrew. We went home and headed straight to bed. Christmas was a fun filled day and will get it's own post in the near future!

More Moose

2008-12-13T09:59:00.006-06:00

12/14/08

We are experiencing the growing pains of having a puppy! Thankfully Moose is having fewer accidents every day. He and Gracie get along well most of the time.

Sometimes they cuddle in bed.

He loves the food that we feed him. He gets so excited that he can't stand!

Overall I think that he is enjoying life at the Blandford House!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-13T09:15:00.009-06:00

12/14/08

So I know it's late but we had a wonderful thanksgiving that I wanted to share. For starters Currey's mom sent us flowers for our centerpiece. They were pretty when we got them but as they opened they were amazing. And they lasted over a week!

I also got to use my china. It is so special for so many reasons! I love it because it is pink, because it was one of the first thing's I got with my new initial on it and I have such fond memories of the outpouring of love that surrounded us as we prepared for marriage. I look for any excuse to use it. There was lots of pink!

We had several friends come. Victor, Ryan, Ryan's Fiance Kristine, Her Sister Ilene, and our friend Liz from small group. Here's a shot of the whole group minus Currey.

It was such a fun meal to prepare. We had a ham, crescent rolls, green bean bundles, cornbread stuffing, baked mac'n'cheese, and twice baked potatoes. Liz made 2 great apple pies and Ilene made a pumpkin one as well. I didn't get a picture of the food but this is the aftermath!

It was a wonderful day with friends. Although we missed spending the holiday with family we love that we are richly blessed with wonderful friendships here.

He Passed!!!

2008-11-26T07:50:00.002-06:00

11/26/08

We got incredibly exciting news yesterday. Currey passed his comp exam which means that he will get his theology degree. It is a huge answer to prayer. I knew that he could do it but it is so nice to know that this obstacle is behind us.

Currey has made lots of sacrifices to get to this point. He has spent countless hours studying, has held a full time job with insane hours, has made sure to do things around the house, been a part of a weekly ministry and been a phenomenal husband. I'm amazed that he manages it all so well.

Currey, I am so incredibly proud of you! Your hard work has paid off and I could not be more proud. I look forward to see what else is in store for us.

Meet Moose

2008-11-26T07:28:00.009-06:00

11/26/08

It has been a crazy few days at the Blandford house! Soon after we lost Bentley we knew that we needed to find a new friend for Gracie. She has been really crazy since then and we are AMAZED at how much better she was as soon as we put Moose in our car.

Of course we wanted to rescue again and we wanted another basset. Once we found a rescue we decided we wanted a male who was less than 3. We were given a few choices but after seeing pictures decided on Moose, a 6 month old basset. On Sunday we made a 5 hour trip to visit him. Gracie used to love riding in the back of the Element with Bentley but once he was gone she insisted on sitting on Currey or I. This is how she spent most of the trip.

We were very anxious as us getting Moose was dependent on a good visit with Gracie. She can be a little cranky sometimes so we were glad she was on her best behavior. She did eventually get quarantined in the back of the Element.

As soon as we saw Moose we fell in love. He is absolutely precious! He and Gracie played and then we singed the paperwork making him ours.

We then had a 5 hour trip home but since Gracie had a friend she was fine in the back. It was a welcomed treat! Moose felt right at home.

Of course we had to stop by Wet Nose to see Joe and get some chew toys as Moose loves to chew. He and Gracie continue to get along well and they love to cuddle. It's cute. So here are a few pictures of Moose. We are one happy family!

Newest Staples

2008-11-22T21:30:00.002-06:00

11/22/08

I've been promising recipes for some time so I decided to deliver! These are two recipes that I had decided to try and they have become staples at our house.

The first is zucchini ravioli. It's so delicious and incredibly easy! It's perfect for busy week nights. We seriously eat it once a week.

Ingredients:

1 zucchini

1 package refrigerated ravioli

fresh grated Parmesan

Cut the zucchini in half length wise and then cut thin slices. (They should look like half moons) Saute zucchini in butter and season with garlic salt and lemon pepper. Cook the ravioli as package directs. Drain pasta and toss with the zucchini. Grate Parmesan over the top and toss again. Delicious!

On our honeymoon we ate chocolate croissants at a wonderful french bakery most mornings for breakfast. If you are ever in Santa Fe the bakery is worth a visit. Although these are NOT comparable they are a yummy treat.

Chocolate "Croissants"

1 package pillsbury crescent rolls

a handful of chocolate chips

Roll out and separate rolls. Put 10-12 chocolate chips on the bottom third of the roll. Roll up and bake at 350 until golden brown.

With the busy holiday season fast approaching , easy recipes are even more useful! Enjoy!

New Look

2008-11-18T10:09:00.002-06:00

11/18/08

I was really tired of the old look of my blog so I changed it! Since I haven't done a recipe in forever (I do have a couple to post!) I figured having a cooking back ground was silly. Hope you enjoy!

If you'd like a new free template for your blog use the link at the left for LeeLou's blog to find one. She has some precious ones!

Favorite Song

2008-11-15T21:27:00.003-06:00

11/15/08

I first heard How he Loves Us on the Hillside video of Cardboard Testimonies. If you haven't seen that video you can go here. It's incredibly powerful and worth the time.

We have begun regularly singing it at church and it brings me to tears each time. I continue to be blown away at the depth of the Lord's love for me. There are details being worked out in Currey and I's life that are an unbelievable reminder of how precious we are to the Father. There is a plan for us that is greater than anything we could ever imagine and we are in awe as we begin to see where we are headed. We eagerly await the next phase of our journey once Currey is done with school. He knows the desires of our hearts and He is showing us that the dreams He has given us will be fulfilled. It is a time of great joy and anticipation. We are blessed beyond measure and have been given more than we could deserve.

The lyrics are great but you should you tube it. I believe that music is incredibly powerful.

How He Loves Us

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And the heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

Visitors From Texas

2008-11-13T10:12:00.005-06:00

11/13/08

This post is a little overdue but I'm recovering from a stomach bug so better late than never.

Last weekend Currey's sister Caley and her boyfriend John came to visit. Their trip was a whirlwind as we tried to pack everything Chicago into 3 days but we loved every minute of it.

We picked them up at the airport and headed straight to the city. We had lunch at our favorite Chinese spot in our old neighborhood. We headed downtown and went to Millennium Park and walked around seeing all the sites of the city. And of course there was a little shopping as well. We tried to do pizza that night but in the freezing weather an outdoor 2 hour wait was not possible so we headed to a local Italian place. Ryan met us and after dinner we went to see Victor as well. We headed home but on the way we picked up s'more stuff. Two nights while they were here we made a fire and Caley and I made s'mores. So fun!!!

Sunday we headed to church and then to one of our favorite lunch spots. We took Caley and John to IKEA and we ended up spending about 2 hours there. We loved every minute and got some really great stuff to decorate with for Thanksgiving. We then headed to small group which is always a treat.

Monday we slept in and then headed to Lincoln Park Zoo. It's a beautiful zoo where you get to get up close to the animals. Best of all it's free! This is John with a Tiger. It was so cool to see all the animals!

We had lunch at Giordano's and enjoyed the pizza as always. The leaves are turning colors and we enjoyed getting to see all the different shades. It is such a beautiful time of year!

We finished the day with shopping and going to see Currey at SLAM which is always an adventure. It was a great trip and we loved getting to spend time with them both. As always, we loved the company and we always welcome visitors!

My Newest Addiction

2008-11-07T21:05:00.003-06:00

11/7/08

I have loved coffee for as long as I can remember! I loved drinking my parents coffee with lots of cream and sugar and I began frequenting Roasters in the 6th grade. I still take credit for hooking lots of people on coffee and I continue to enjoy coffee with friends. Whether doing homework at Roasters in high school, having "date night" at Starbucks with Celeste while at ACU or fellow shipping with friends here, my love of coffee continues.

Currey working at Starbucks is a major perk! I have tried tons of drinks, several unique creations made by creative baristas and I always have a favorite. My newest favorite is a venti iced coffee with cream. It's AMAZING!!!! And it's cheaper than a fancy drink so I can have it more. Yummy!!! So whether you are getting your first snow this weekend or enjoying living somewhere warmer in the world take some time to enjoy coffee with someone you love this weekend!

Bedroom Make-over

2008-11-03T08:20:00.009-06:00

11/3/08

One of the more fun things that we did while my mom was here was add some life to the decor in our bedroom. My mom has great ideas and we enjoy spending time looking for all the pieces to complete the project. Last time she was here she helped with the rest of the house so it was fun to work on the room this time. We knew it was drab but we didn't really realize until we were done.

Here is a before picture

And the after!

We added great drapes, bedskirt and a floor lamp from Target. We found the frames at Ikea that Currey did a great job putting together and covering with fabric.

Currey had another great idea as well which involved moving our computer from the bedroom to the living room. We got a small desk to do beside the entertainment center and we love having the computer in here.

This left our big desk in the bedroom so that's where my sewing machine got to move to. I love having all that space!

Thanks mom for all your help getting everything together! We love, love, love the results. Can't wait until your next trip!

The kindness of friends

2008-11-01T17:13:00.002-05:00

11/1/08

Just wanted to say thank you for all the kind words sent our way through phone calls and emails. Things are much better at the Blandford house. We are still having a hard time dealing with the loss but it gets easier every day. There are just so many reminders of him all around the house it is hard not to think about him every day. Gracie is still having a hard time dealing with being the only dog so we will probably be getting another dog really soon. She is very lonely and really needs a friend! We appreciate all the kind words, sweet thoughts and prayers. We are so grateful!

The loss of our Beloved Bentley

2008-10-27T15:37:00.007-05:00

10/27/08

Saturday was a very sad day at the Blandford House. My mom was in town and we were headed to breakfast and a day of shopping. We took the dogs out before we left and we could tell that Bentley was in pain. He had been pretty whinny but that's normal and we thought nothing of it. He could not get back into our building and when Currey went to pick him up Bentley cried in pain.

We rushed to the vet and by the time we were there his back legs were paralyzed. We were told that he could still feel deep pain which meant there was some feeling so we rushed to the hospital with the plan of him having emergency back surgery. Unfortunately by the time we got there he was no longer experiencing the deep pain. Apparently one of his disks had carbonated and slipped into his spine causing the paralysis. Our only options were an incredibly expensive surgery with small probability that he would be able to walk or putting him down. We could not justify a surgery that would would lessen his quality of life just for our selfish desire to keep him with us. We made the very difficult decision to put him down.

It's been a rough few days around here. It still makes me cry as I write this 2 days later. Even though he was a dog he was our first pet as a married couple. He brought us so much joy and was a precious part of our family. He presence is already greatly missed but we will treasure our sweet memories with him.

Napping with Daddy

Sunning with Sister

Our Sweet Baby

Our Precious Puppies

2008-10-08T22:28:00.007-05:00

10/8/08

Last winter we got Bentley a fleece lined rain coat. It's the only way we can get him to go out in the rain and due to the incredibly cold winters we felt it was a great investment. Once we got Gracie we realized she would need one too! Wet Nose just got their fall merchandise so we got Gracie a pink one. They look so cute that I thought we needed pictures. They were really uncooperative so here's the best I got.

Laundry Detergent

2008-10-08T21:51:00.005-05:00

10/8/08

I had been wanting to make my own detergent for some time and I found this recipe on another blog. It can actually be seen here.

So here's how it goes:

1 cup washing soda (I use Arm & Hammer)

1/2 cup borax (I use 20 Mule Team)

1 bar soap (I used Dove because I like the smell and knew we wouldn't have a weird reaction to it)

Approximately 3 gallons water

You’ll also need a storage container. We just used a large tupperware with a lid. I set aside some kitchen utensils for this project including a wooden spoon, a grater and a measuring cup.

Begin by putting about four cups of water in a pot and bring it to a boil. Reduce it down to a simmer.

While it’s heating up, take a bar of soap and grate it into some sort of container.

After taking this picture we realized that grating it over the boiling water made it melt and then we couldn't grate it. When the water is boiling, start putting in the soap. Just do a little at a time, waiting until each batch is dissolved.

Stir the soapy water with a spoon until all of the soap is dissolved. In the end, you’ll have some very bubbly water.

Next, get out your large container and add three gallons of warm tap water to it. To this bucket add a cup of the washing soda and the soap solution you made and stir. once that is dissolved add the Borax.

After stirring, you’ll have a container full of :

The color of the detergent will vary depending on the shade of soap that you use. The soap needs to sit for 24 hours before use, preferably covered. The soap can turn out many different ways. It might be firm, like Jello; it might be very watery; it might even be like liquid laundry detergent. Just stir it up a bit and it’s ready to be used. Ours came out very watery but it works great! I decided to wait until I used it to post about it but we can't tell a difference at all. I'll keep posting about our adventures of going green.

I promise that there are farmer's market recipes to come!