Levi: the best big brother!

Levi is a pretty stellar big brother. He really enjoys having Cecil around, talking to Cecil, and even helping Cecil calm down (which, incidentally, he's pretty good at!).

Holding Cecil, only a few weeks old

Today Levi helped Cecil fist-bump him. Yesterday, Cecil started getting fussy while I was making dinner, and Levi ran over to him and just looked at him. Cecil calmed down almost immediately at the sight of his big brother. Little things like this happen all the time. Also, every time I put Cecil on a blanket for tummy time, Levi gets all excited and lays down there right next to him.

Enjoying tummy time & keeping his little brother company

Levi said, "Hi Cecil. I am a lobster." Cuuuuuute!

Levi really likes talking about his little brother and hearing about being a big brother. When either Austin or I read a story about brothers, Levi loves having his and Cecil's names put in place of the characters in the book.

A picture of either one is great, but when they're together, the picture is even better!

The only time Levi really seemed frustrated at having Cecil around was after we came home from a grocery trip. Both Levi and Cecil were hungry and competing for my attention, which I couldn't give them immediately because I needed to put away the frozen and refrigerated groceries first. By the time I finished, Cecil was crying in full earnest, and I rushed over to him so that I could help him. Levi rushed over, too, and right as I was getting there, Levi flipped down the carseat canopy over Cecil so I couldn't see him (pretty extreme, I know).

My first impulse was to say, "No, Levi, can't you tell that Cecil needs me?" but then I realized Levi needed some validation and to feel like he had some control over the situation, so I said, "What? Where's Cecil??" in my best I-can't-find-him-and-I'm-worried voice. We were both right next to Cecil's covered carrier. Levi smiled. Then I said, "Wow, I can hear him crying, I think he really needs me, but I can't see him anywhere!" Levi flipped up the cover, then immediately flipped it down again. I was able to get in an "Oh, THERE he --" before the cover came down, and then followed that up with, "Man, I wonder where Cecil could be? I just saw him!" Levi laughed and flipped up the cover again, leaving it up this time.

And so far, that's been the only acting out Levi's had towards Cecil!

One thing that has changed about Levi's behavior towards me is that he wants to be cuddled more (score!) and he'll pretend to be a baby. He even makes baby noises like Cecil does - not the easy-to-make ones that grown-ups use, but real noises sounding pretty similar to the grunts and squeaks that a small baby makes.

My babies, haha.

Levi didn't like the flash

I'm really happy that Levi likes Cecil so much, and I think Cecil's a pretty lucky kid to have a brother like Levi.

I did something Pinterest-worthy!

Usually cutesy crafts and Pinterest things aren't really my forte. However, I think this little project turned out really well!

My entryway closet had been a jumble of shoes, and it was bugging me a LOT. The mess was the main thing bothering me, but it was also annoying to have to hunt for shoes when we needed them. I wanted something in the closet to help organize the shoes, but didn't want to have to look for (or spend the money on) a shoe organizer.

Enter the myriad of diaper boxes we've accumulated over the last two years or so. We've used them in all of our moves, and since we're planning on moving again in the near future (in less than a year, to a house - no solid plans yet), we've saved all of the boxes that are in good condition. They're so ubiquitous that one of my sisters teases me about them on a fairly regular basis.

Anyway, I have a lot of diaper boxes.

Boxes can be used for a lot of things. They're very useful! So far, we've used them for organizing without really trying to make them look nice, but this time I wanted something that would look good in our closet, especially since the front closet is so public.

I decided that some small shelves made out of a couple of the diaper boxes would fill the bill for organizing the closet. Cover those with some tasteful contact paper, and it should look pretty good, right? The next time I went shopping, I purchased some contact paper with a cute pattern, and got to work the next day.

First I found two boxes that were the same size.:

Next, I lined them with contact paper:

Levi actually took this and the next picture. He did a good job!

Voila!

The finished product!

Levi vs. Cecil

From the first moment I got a good look at Levi, I could tell that he looked like his dad. He had the same big eyes, cute face, and double jointed fingers as my husband. There was a gap between his big toe and second toe and little dents behind his ears. Levi was also pretty lean for a baby, and so was Austin. The first post I wrote about Levi was actually about how similar he was to him.

Cecil, on the other hand, looks like me. From the day he was born, his eyes promised to become brown one day. While just as open as Levi's, his eyes are not as round and they crease at the sides like mine do. He has two noticeable dimples. His feet are short and his toes are shaped like mine. He is also chubby just like I was when I was a baby!

Here are some comparison pictures, just for fun! 

Levi - 3 months / Cecil - 1 month

Cecil - 4 weeks

Levi - 1 month

Cecil - 1 month

Levi - 3 months

Cecil - 5 weeks

Levi - 6 months

Cecil - 5 weeks

Levi - 6 months

The Terrible Threes

Austin and I thought we'd been lucky and missed the Terrible Twos, but the Terrible Threes got us instead.

Levi is a really really nice little guy. He's thoughtful and obedient, and if I tell him I'm sad--or even act like I am--he comes over and smothers me with an adorable toddler hug and a kiss. He also loves to be helpful and do the things that I do.

Because of this, it was really hard for me when he started acting out a few weeks ago. I thought that maybe it was because he was thrown off by having a new brother that took up so much of my attention. That didn't make sense, though, because Levi really seems to like Cecil and be concerned for his well-being.

Then I thought maybe it was because of Daylight Savings and a thrown-off sleeping schedule. While this has definitely affected him, Levi's behavior has been worse than it usually is when he's just tired.

I was pretty worried so it came as a relief to realize that it is normal for the terrible two's to wait for a child's third birthday before showing up. I thought maybe something had happened that I could have prevented that had changed Levi into a much harder to deal with kid, so I was relieved to realize it was a normal and typical stage that he is going through.

There's a lot more crying, stomping, hitting (thankfully it's mostly objects), and deliberate disobedience. It's really unfortunate that it had to come at the same time as a decrease in my ability to supervise him (this morning he thought it was a good idea to get the pickles out of the fridge and put pickles and pickle juice in the peanut butter jar. Oh boy). How long is this supposed to last, again? Hopefully not a full year!

How do I help my children feel equally loved?

One thing that I want to do for my children is give them equal attention and love. I know this will be difficult, especially since I want more than two or three! I also know that I will not succeed 100% of the time, but that it's worth the effort.

This desire means several things need to happen.

This means keeping track of the developmental milestones for ALL of my children - at least to the extent that I did for Levi. This includes blog posts, Facebook posts, and especially pictures.

It also means spending individual time with each of them in addition to the time I'll spend with them together.

This also means getting to know each of them individually so that I will know when they are feeling left out or unloved.

This means making sure they will be comfortable telling me their concerns and their desires. How will I give my kids equal attention and love if I don't know their individual wants and needs?


These are just a few of my thoughts. What are some things that you can think of that are important for giving kids equal attention and love?

Middle child in a large family

It's generally understood that middle children get the short end of the stick when it comes to family life. However, I really enjoyed being a middle child in a large family, and I felt like there were a lot of positives that came from being in that position.

Of course, there were the usual cons to being a middle child. Some specific things that come to mind are--

-Very few baby pictures of me

-Not many people remember things I specifically did when I was little/a baby

-More restrictions based on mistakes my older siblings made (I'm not faulting my older siblings here)

The positives outweigh the cons, though.

-Having sibling friends both older and younger than me

-Middle was the spot for the "cool kids"

-Learning from the successes of my older siblings

-Learning from the mistakes of my older siblings

-Learning through having responsibility for my younger siblings

-Being able to boss around my younger siblings

How to help a new mother

One Thanksgiving break about a year before I graduated from college, one of my sisters gave birth to a little boy, and I went to her home to help her with her other kids and anything else she may need during her recovery from the birth. It was my first time doing something like that, and I was excited to help my sister.

While I was there, I helped with laundry, cooking, cleaning, and the older kids, but my sister still looked and acted frazzled. I felt like there was a lot more that I could have done, but I didn't know what.
______

Fast forward a few years, and with the birth of my second child, I'm reminded again of the things that I wish I'd known that first time that I tried to help a new mother. Hopefully, the things that I share can help someone preparing to help a new mother. And just to make everything clear--the people who helped me were amazing and so helpful! I wouldn't have been able to recover so quickly without them.

So, what is the best way to help out a new mom? Here are three things that I think are the most helpful to a new mother, in order of importance.

1. Make her SLEEP! Every new mom is sleep-deprived and should be taking naps throughout the day to make up for the time spent awake during nighttime feedings. As her helper, you should remind her to sleep and make sure she knows she has no responsibility to entertain you or visit with you during your stay. It seems like that should go without saying, but you do need to say it.

There are different ways to encourage naps depending on the mom. However, it's pretty obvious that if things need to get done around the house, the mom will get them done instead of sleeping. Therefore, it's great to have help with other kids or the household responsibilities. That leads to the next two points.

2. Help with household chores. I personally love it when people clean up for me, especially in the kitchen. I like to cook, so that's not so much of a big deal as long as I don't have to clean up afterward :). However, I know other women that enjoy cleaning and dislike cooking, so for those women it would be the opposite--help with cooking takes priority over  help with cleaning. Find out which household duties are the least and most enjoyable for the mom and go from there.

Remember the less-thought-of responsibilities of a mother, such as laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, and bathing the older kids. 

3. Help with the kids. Make sure they're fed, diapers are changed if they need it, that they have help going to the bathroom or washing their hands, and that they're well hydrated. Read books to them and/or play with them. Make sure the mom has time to spend with her older kids, too. I guarantee that if she doesn't have time or energy to spend with her older kids, she will miss them. It doesn't matter how difficult they may or may not be.

__________

That's it, folks! Again, encourage the mom to get extra sleep and not to feel guilty about sleeping all day if she needs to. That's the most important thing.

With Malice Toward None: A biography of Abraham Lincoln

Recently I've been reading a biography of Abraham Lincoln, and I'm really enjoying it. I've learned that he had depression and that he was incredibly self-conscious of his humble beginnings. Evidently, he hated farm work and manual labor, which was a big factor in him educating himself. He was a very successful lawyer and was well-read on the issues of the times--he read every newspaper he could get his hands on, so he was not limited to just his party's point of view.

I've also learned a lot more about the slave issue leading up to the time of the American Civil War. Many Northerners were opposed to the idea of slavery, but did not want to fight a war over it. Most Northerners were also White supremacists and did not like the idea of freed slaves flocking to the North. Abraham Lincoln was aware of these views, and did not initially make the Civil War a war over slavery even though he was very opposed to slavery and wanted to see it end. Lincoln gradually introduced more and more measures to facilitate the emancipation of the slaves to help the American people get used to the idea.

The Emancipation Proclamation didn't come along until January of 1863, two years after the Confederacy was formed. It also only freed the slaves in the Confederate states; the people in the slave states still part of the Union were still permitted to retain ownership of the people enslaved at the time. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution--freeing all slaves everywhere in the US--was adopted in December of 1865, several months after the end of the war, and practically three years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

The Union also experienced poor military leadership until about 1864, only a year before the end of the war. Prior to that time, the Northern generals consistently fought a defensive war, successfully repelling all of the Southern forays into Union land, but never pursuing Southerners into their lands, even though the Northern armies had better weapons and more men.

I enjoyed the biography from start to finish. I enjoyed the new information I got as I read it. Although it did not read like a novel (how many accurate biographies do?), it did not consist solely of dry, uninteresting facts. The biography itself is called "With Malice Toward None: The Life of Abraham Lincoln" by Stephen B. Oates. It comes highly recommended!

Easy Chicken and Dumplings

I'm all about easy, and I'm all about chicken and dumplings. The hardest thing about this dish is waiting long enough for the dumplings to cook before eating it! (and then probably wiping all the flour off the counter after you're done making the dumplings).

Granddad JC and Grandma Izzy have both said that not only did they eat chicken and dumplings often as they were growing up, but it was a staple at their family 4th of July celebrations when they were kids.

I've styled my recipe off of Mom's (which I think she got from Grandma) but added a few twists of my own to make it easier. I hope you enjoy it!


Cook one boneless, skinless chicken breast on stove with 1 tsp salt and 1 bouillon cube in about 6 C water (I fill up my largest pot about 1/2 way with water. I'm not exactly sure how much water it is or the exact size of the pot. It's at least 3 quarts, maybe more). Depending on if the chicken breast is thawed out or frozen , this should take anywhere from 20-35 minutes. I like to cook the chicken at a simmer so it's more tender than if I cooked it at a full rolling boil.

Meanwhile, combine the following ingredients in a large mixing bowl*:

3 C all-purpose flour
3/4 T sugar
3/8 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1/2 C salad oil
3/4 C water

At the end, I generally have to finish blending the ingredients with my hands.

Flour a clean counter top, and roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut dough into 3/4 inch wide strips at whatever length you like your dumplings to be. I like mine about 4 - 5 inches long. I've found that pizza cutters are the quickest and easiest way to cut my dough.

When the chicken has finished cooking, take it out of the pot and place it on a cutting board to cool. Bring the broth to a rolling boil. Add strips of dough to boiling water, stirring periodically. At this point, the food is prone to boiling over, so keep a close eye on the pot. I usually turn the heat down gradually as I add the dumplings to avoid that problem.

Keep the dumplings at a simmer for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally so the dumplings don't stick to the bottom of the pot.

Meanwhile, cut chicken into bite-size pieces and combine with dumpling mixture in the pot. Add salt, pepper, and garlic to taste. I like about 1/2 t of pepper and 1/4 t of garlic powder. Salt is just one of those things you have to taste for.

At this point, you just have to wait for the dumplings to cook. You can add flour to the broth if you want a thicker soup. The dumplings are done when they are soft and bend somewhat easily. I like to let them cook for at least 30 minutes, but I like them better when they've cooked longer than that, probably 45 minutes to an hour. This is a great dish to make ahead of time because it tastes better the longer the flavors have to combine.

Enjoy!


* if you want to make this dish even easier, you can buy frozen dumplings from some grocery stores, especially in the South. Don't use the refrigerated biscuit dough, though. It has sugar in it and tastes weird in this dish.

Women in engineering--always in high demand?

Recently, someone alluded to the fact that when I was in college, I was one of the rare women in a male-dominated field. The topic of conversation that led to this was how difficult it is for guys at Georgia Tech to get girlfriends and that most eligible women there were flanked by two or three guys.

The nature of the conversation was such that I was able to say that I had the experience of being one of very few women in my classes, but not what it meant for me or really anything else about it.

I've also seen comics about how women in engineering and other male-dominated subjects have to dress down so they don't get unwanted attention, but then get it anyway.

It wasn't like that for me. Mostly the guys just ignored me.

The closest I came to being in high demand was in my physics class, where there was a significantly higher proportion of women than in my regular engineering classes. It wasn't until near the end of the semester that I realized my two friends (who were not studying engineering and were in classes with a much higher guy/girl ratio) that sat on either side of me both were interested in me.

However, that was only one class during one semester out of the dozens of classes I took while in school. The guys just weren't interested in me. I didn't feel bad about it, though--I wasn't interested in them, either. It would have been nice to have more friends, but it's awkward to have friends that are interested in you. They also probably thought I'd think they were interested in me if they were friendly towards me, which would also make them less likely to befriend me.

So, long story short, not all women in male-dominated fields are in high demand. The end.

Story dream

This morning, I had my first fantasy literature/movie dream in a really long time. It was pretty interesting.

Austin, Levi and I start out in some sort of hotel or bed-and-breakfast. A lady is trying to dispose of us, and we get tipped off by a friendly bystander, who lets us know the down-low of the world that we've somehow found ourselves in: this lady is like the White Witch in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe because she's trying to take over the world and will be deceptive to do it. I'm kind of hazy on the details of the beginning of the dream, so I'll skip down to the parts that I remember.

We find out about the Evil Lady's Good counterpart, who lives in the colder parts of the world. We're told she's coming to help us. A few minutes later, the Good Lady drives up to the cafe that we're in. Her car is an older (late 90's?) black SUV--not exactly what you'd expect. While we're in the process of leaving, the evil lady hands me an item, saying that it was something not good and she was giving it to me for safekeeping. I asked if it should be destroyed, and she said yes. Of course I didn't trust her, though, so as soon as I got in the black SUV with the Good Lady, I asked her about it. She told me not to destroy it and some other details that of course I don't remember now.

It must have been a magical 90's SUV because we got to the Good Lady's lands fairly quickly. It looked like Spring was just starting, as there was snow on the ground and on the trees but not a lot and all the green growth looked new. We went into an older cafe and started visiting with the people there.

I woke up before anything interesting happened. Maybe this will be a serial dream--I have had those. I'll update if I have another one.

Kicking it

I am so awed and thankful to be preparing to welcome another child into my family in just a few months. Life really is a miracle.

One of the things I've been doing during this pregnancy that I didn't do (but should have done) when I was pregnant with Levi is counting kicks. The baby is supposed to move at least 10 times in an hour (after you're far enough along), so you pick a time and count the movements. This baby (let's call him Stevi for now, since we don't have a name for him yet) usually gets the 10 kicks in five minutes or less, and keeps kicking after I've counted 10 kicks. Granted, I do wait to start counting until I feel him moving first. I remember Levi kicking, but I don't remember the frequency or the quantity of kicks. I'm glad I'm doing counting and that I've written about it here. So at 30 weeks, little Stevi likes to move!

One thing that happened yesterday is that Stevi pushed on me with his hand (or foot, but I think it was his hand), so much so that I was able to push back and feel the knob of his little hand under my skin. It was like he gave me a high five! It was pretty sweet.

Other things that are different this time around are: 1) I've experienced heartburn (blech!), 2) I've experienced a lot more physical discomfort, and 3) people ask me how far along I am before I mention that I'm pregnant (I'm not sure if this is a location thing or if it's because I'm showing more this time).

Kielbasa and pasta quick dinner

I was incredibly hungry today when I set out to make dinner, so I was pretty motivated to make something quick and easy. We had some kielbasa in the freezer, so I decided to do a pasta dish with it. I ended up making a thin red sauce to go with it as well, and it turned out really well! Levi ate everything, too; he usually only likes the sausage in the sausage dishes I make. The recipe is very simple:

1 box angel hair pasta
1 kielbasa sausage (14-16 oz)
1-2 tsp cooking oil (I used canola)
1/2 small can (8 oz) tomato paste
1 C water
Garlic to taste
Pepper to taste
salt to taste 

Cook angel hair pasta according to package directions; drain. 

Meanwhile, slice sausage and brown with oil in a large frying pan on the stove. After sausage is browned, add the 1/2 can of tomato paste and 1 C water. Stir together until smooth. Add seasonings; let simmer for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir into pasta. All done!

I served baked beans with the meal as well as a side of vegetables. The beans went really well with this dish. I've been thinking that a few additions might make this dish a little more interesting, such as sauteing sliced onions, bell peppers, or mushrooms along with the sausage.

Levi's creations

 At various times throughout the past two days, Levi's called my attention to various trucks that he's made out of his blocks. I'm pretty sure these are in chronological order, except the fuel tanker, since he first made that one yesterday and I didn't get my camera out until today. The only one I'm missing right now is the snow plow, which is a pretty complicated contraption. I'll have to get a picture of that to share sometime if he makes it again.

Truck

Camera (not a truck, but this way we got to take pictures of each other!)

Fuel tanker

Fuel tanker

Train (version 1)

Close-up of train, version 1

Train (version 2!)

Train (version 2). Isn't Levi such a cutie??? He's so proud of his creations!

I'm impressed by his creativeness with all of this. And I didn't show him how to make any of these things--he just said, "Mama, fuel tanker!" or, "Mama, choo-choo train!" to let me know that he made something. The only thing we've done with blocks before is make towers.

Atlanta!

We are loving being in our new home. There are several things we have here that we haven't had (or haven't had for long) in the other places we've lived. First, we have a master bathroom. I had no idea how much difference this would make until we actually experienced it. There are so many things that go in (or it's convenient when they go in) a bathroom that toddlers just shouldn't have access to. We can keep cleaning supplies, medicines, razors, and other things in the bathroom without worrying that Levi will get into them. What a relief, and I didn't even know it would be a relief!

Second, an automatic dishwasher (not the manual dishwasher that's typing up this post) has made a HUGE difference! It's so nice to be able to just scrape off the food and stick things in the dishwasher. Levi likes it as well ("Mama! Wheels!" ... Oh yeah, dishwashers do have wheels on the racks). He really loves to "help" me get the dishwasher ready to run, and sometimes it actually does help!

A washer and dryer in the apartment are also fantastic. Levi wanted me to watch him on the potty the other day, and I was able to fold clothes right out of the dryer as I was validating the learning he was doing. Also, laundry doesn't have to be a big deal once a week anymore. Woohoo!

It's also so nice not to be living like college students anymore--Austin has so much more free time, especially on the weekends. We've also been able to get several necessaries that we've been holding off on until we had more financial freedom.

Gratuitous picture of Levi perching on my back and having me in almost a choke hold.
We have a lot of fun like this, but we're still working on the whole choke hold thing.

And of course, let's not overlook the advantages to the location. We are thousands (literally thousands - two thousand, to be exact) of miles closer to my family and several hundred miles closer to Austin's. Fresh and juicy peaches are to be had in abundance, and the mild winter only lasts two or three months here. The beach isn't far, either.

We're happy to be here!

Beginner's crochet headband for infants

Guys. I had NO idea headbands were so easy to make! Even a beginner can whip this one up in an hour or less (I think for me it's about 30 minutes), and it hardly takes up any yarn at all. Awesome, right?? So since I came up with the pattern myself, I thought I'd write it down and share it with you all. Here goes!

Materials:
-2 different colors of yarn, worsted weight (that's the kind that you usually think of when you think of yarn. It'll say on the package, though, if you're worried.)
-Size K hook (You could probably do it all with size H, but I'll explain in a minute why I included two sizes)
-Size H hook
-Scissors

Band:
In color 1 using size K hook, chain 50, turn, skip one, single crochet to end. You're done!
*note: I estimate that this combination will make the band to fit most babies 4 months and younger. If you use a size H hook, I recommend making the band a bit longer, since your stitches will be smaller. If you want this to fit a larger head, just add more stitches.

Flower:
Change color to color 2 and use size H hook. Chain 15. Turn, skip one, single crochet (sc) to end, chain one, turn, stitch 2 sc in each stitch to the end. Switch colors to color 1; slip stitch in each stitch until the end; tie off, leaving a long end to use in sewing up flower (it's nice to have a long tail of both colors, so when you cut the other color, try to leave several inches for sewing).
Curl up into swirly flower; sew the flower in place so it stays where you want it.

Finishing touches:
Sew button on to one end of band. Crochet is nice and hole-y so you don't need to worry about button holes. This makes the headband nice and adjustable, which is great for babies! Sew the flower on to desired position on band, and voila! You're done. I added some fabric glue to the flower to help along my debatable sewing skills.

Morning sickness

So, today is the second day in a ROW that I haven't experienced any morning sickness at ALL! You have no idea how giddy this makes me, so let me tell you a little about when I was pregnant with Levi and compare it to this pregnancy. I also want to be able to remember my first pregnancy, even though it was so rough, so this is also for posterity.

I remember when I started to experience morning sickness the first time being pregnant. I had been playing Portal with Austin, and got nauseous from the movement of the screen. I had played it before without getting nauseous, so I was a little confused. I remained a little bit nauseous that night and then it never truly went away until Levi was born. Thankfully, my nausea was mostly limited to the morning, but it could last into late morning and was very intense. Pretty quickly, I had to start waking Austin up to make me breakfast so I wouldn't have to get out of bed, because moving or walking around before eating made me feel worse, and I was almost sure to throw up. The food that would make my nausea better and not make me throw up changed about once a week, though, so I'd have to wait until I could think of something that didn't make me nauseous just thinking about it before I woke Austin up. Then one day was much worse than the others before it. I had done my normal morning routine and caught a ride to work. About an hour or two into work, I knew I'd be useless for the rest of the day, so I called in those wonderful home teachers of mine. They found someone to drive the 30 minutes to my work and take me home again. (Side note: my visiting teachers would have been just as happy to help, but both of them worked). I am so thankful for home and visiting teachers!

Anyway, I was pretty bad the next day, too. I called in sick again and stayed in bed all day, sleeping most of the time. Even reading a book made me nauseous! I was doing much better on the third day and was able to go into work again.

We didn't have a car, so I caught rides to work and Austin and I took the bus or walked where we needed to go around town. Sometimes the walks were too much for me. Even though just months before I'd been in college regularly walking 0.8 - 1 miles speed walking uphill from the engineering buildings to my math class or Spanish class in 15 minutes or less, at the time I was pregnant I was having problems walking more than a quarter mile at a very slow pace and stopping to rest every little while.

I experienced more car sickness while I was pregnant than I was used to before, as well. It probably didn't help that I was getting a ride and wasn't able to drive myself either. I never threw up while in the car, but there were a few times that I thought I would. Sometimes we'd get to work and I'd go straight to the bathroom. Yes, I threw up at work. The thing that saved me was a bag of peppermints that my sister gave me. When I started feeling nauseous at my desk, I'd suck on a peppermint for a few minutes and then I'd feel better. I was a chain peppermint sucker. Food also helped; hungry pregnant Katie was not a pretty sight.

This lasted pretty much the whole pregnancy. I had a morning routine where I'd throw up, then eat breakfast and finish getting ready because I knew I was going to throw up anyway. I figured that I might as well get it over with before I ate anything. I also couldn't eat cereal made with milk that was more than a few days out of the store, because I almost always lost my breakfast if it was made with milk that was even a little bit old. A week away from the expiration date, and my body couldn't take it.

In the last month or so before Levi was born, I stopped barfing as much, but I still experienced nausea pretty much every day and the thought of eating certain foods still made me feel gross. After he was born, I almost cried because I was so happy about being able to enjoy food again. Anyone that knows me really well knows how important food is to me and how much I love eating good food. While I was pregnant, that whole part of me went missing. It was kind of like being a missionary and not being able to read novels to relax on P-day.


Anyway. Let me tell you about my current pregnancy up to this point. I have always been able to get around and do things. Austin hasn't had to get up to make breakfast for me once. I have always been able to take care of Levi (maybe not as quickly as he'd like, though). I've been really tired, but taking time away from doing other things to sleep is nothing compared to being sick all day every day for months on end. This pregnancy, if I get (*got? hehe :) enough sleep the night or day before, my nausea the next day isn't as bad. And, and, AND I've had TWO DAYS in a ROW without ANY nausea! Hallelujah! Also, I haven't really noticed any car sickness very much more than usual, which is also fantastic.

I know that I'm experiencing much less stress than I did when I was pregnant before, so that's probably a factor. I'm just happy that I'm feeling so much better this time around.


*I said "got" because hopefully my morning sickness is staying in the first trimester!

Look what I did!!!

I finally finished it!

It took soooooo long, but I finally finished it, border and all :) I love that it's a wave and not the sharper zig-zag pattern.

I just had to share. Now on to smaller projects that I'll be able to finish in a few days, instead of years (because I get tired of them in the middle and take year (or more) long breaks). No more blankets for me! Unless of course it's a baby blanket; then I might consider it.

Goals - what now?

When I was a teenager, I attended Young Womens classes at my church. Those classes are essentially Sunday school classes for young women from age 12-18, often with supplemental activities during the week.

Anyway, sometimes we'd talk about goals: What do you want to be doing in 5 years from now? 10? It was pretty easy to set those goals since I was in high school and planned on going to college. I also wanted to get married and start a family.

By now, I've reached those goals. I graduated from the university I attended with honors and I'm now married to a wonderful man and have an adorable son, with another kiddo on the way. I don't think serving a mission was ever a serious goal for me while I was in high school, but I ended up doing that, too. I'm glad I did.

I've heard that many people arrive at this point and feel at a loss as to how they should continue; they now have everything they wanted out of life--what now?

I don't think I've ever felt that way. I get fulfillment out of learning to be a better wife and mother, to understand and work with my husband better every day. However, those are very indistinct goals, and I feel like it's beneficial to have more than just that kind of goal to work with.

Everyone will have different goals, because everyone is different and has different strengths and desires. However, here are some of my goals:

1. Strengthen neighborhood unity by throwing (simple) neighborhood parties, especially after moving out of Wymount (we already have a lot of neighborhood unity, and extra parties here would probably be overkill, haha)
2. Help kids in single-parent families to have the attention they need (and also to give their parents a break if they need it!) by helping with homework, transportation, or whatever else is needed.
3. Make my home a positive place my children and their friends will love to be--with acceptance, support, and snacks!
4. Get training for a job I'll love (so, probably not engineering) and go back to work after my children are old enough.
5. Meet new people by participating in community activities such as toddler time at the library (I had thought of another way to meet people in the community, but it escapes me right now. Edit: Aha! What about game night at the game store?)

You can see that a lot of these goals are based off of me loving to be around people and meeting new people. An introvert would have different goals that would reflect his or her own strengths. My goals also involve my children and their friends. Someone who doesn't have kids would have the opportunity to focus on something different.

I encourage anyone reading this post to set goals for your life, especially if you've already gotten the "big goals" or if achieving them is out of your control. Make goals both for making the world around you better and that will make yourself better or happier.

People change

I remember the first time I noticed a drastic change in someone. When I knew this person in high school, she was unforgiving and judgmental. She didn't like me for reasons beyond my control. She was manipulative.

When I started to interact with this person on a regular basis several years later, I was struck with the change in her. She was still her, but in a different way. She was more forgiving. She admitted her own faults, and she didn't dislike me. She wasn't as manipulative as she had once been. I could tell that she was happier, and that she liked herself more.

At first, I resisted treating her as a changed person. I still remembered what she had been like in the past, and knew some of what she was capable of. I had formed habits in the way I interacted with her, and I had to remember the changes to treat her as the new her.

I've noticed the same thing with myself. I'm a vastly different person from who I was in high school, even though I'm the same in many ways.

I was shy, awkward, opinionated, stubborn, vulnerable, naive, and many other things when I was in high school. I was a people-pleaser and a rule-follower; I stayed quiet because I was afraid of saying something wrong or making people dislike me.

Now I am outgoing, socially acceptable, more informed, less stubborn, more open to other people's thoughts, experiences, and opinions, and more sure of myself. I still like to make others comfortable, but I'm continuing to learn that you can't make everyone happy, no matter how hard you try. I'm different. I'm still me at my core, but I'm different.

Recently I talked to someone who best remembers high school me. She made a reference to my naivete which was no longer accurate. There are still other people that knew me from my high school years* that avoid me because high school me was boring and uninteresting, and don't even give me a chance now.

It's important to give people second chances, the benefit of the doubt, and  remember that they can change. Not everyone goes though such dramatic changes as my friend and I have, but we need to remember that people can and do change.


*There are many people who knew me while I was in high school that have maintained their friendships with me throughout my changes. Only some people have been unwilling to get to know me again. I imagine it's just as hard for them as it was for me to re-acquaint myself with the friend that I talked about at the beginning of this post.

Quick and Easy Fried Rice

It has been requested that I include a recipe for fried rice on this blog. I didn't know anyone besides myself even cared about the recipes I put on here, so I'm pretty happy to know that at least one person has an interest in my cooking ideas!

So, fried rice. I learned how to make it from one of my past roommates who is half Korean. She always said she wasn't much of a cook, but I thought she was great!

Before I learned how to make fried rice, I had this kind of nebulous idea that fried rice was made when you toasted the uncooked rice in oil before adding the water. I was wrong.


Ingredients:
1.5 C cooked rice
1-2 T cooking oil
1 T Asian salad dressing (I like Newman's Own Sesame Ginger dressing, but any brand is fine.)
1 C frozen French-cut green beans or other quick-cooking vegetable(s). Sometimes I use leftover veggies.
1-2 eggs (optional: replace with another protein such as chopped ham)
salt and pepper to taste

I've never measured any of my ingredients while cooking this dish, so keep this in mind when you make it yourself.

I choose a pan depending on how much I want to make. I usually use a small-to medium-sized frying pan to cook enough for Levi and me. Cover the bottom of the pan with about 3/4" of rice (I like to use leftover rice since it cuts down on the prep time). It's ok if the rice is deeper in the pan; it'll be a little bit awkward to cook, but it'll still taste the same.

Place the rice and oil in the pan; heat at medium high heat until rice is warm. Add green beans and salad dressing. If it looks like you don't have enough vegetables, add some more. You should also be able to see oil droplets on your pan. If you don't see them, add at least 1 teaspoon additional oil.

When beans are heated through but not completely cooked, *clear a space in the middle of the pan to scramble the eggs in. The rice and green bean mixture should be pushed up along the sides, leaving the middle clear. Scramble the eggs in this cleared-out space. Add salt and pepper to taste on eggs and rice mixture on the sides. When eggs are fully cooked, chop them up and mix them in with the rice mixture. At this point, the dish is finished. If you want an additional Asian flair, leave the food in the pan for about a minute while turning the heat up to the highest setting. Be sure not to let it burn. This gives the rice that's in direct contact with the pan a bit of a crunch, and is considered the best part of a rice dish in many Asian cultures. I also enjoy it :)

Cook time for me is about 10 minutes. I think.


*if you don't want to use eggs in the dish, you can use chopped ham, chicken, or other pre-cooked meat in place of the eggs. I haven't tried it with tofu, but that might be good, too. If you replace the eggs with a pre-cooked meat, you don't need to cook them in the middle of the pan because they're already cooked. Just mix in the meat you've chosen with the rest of the rice until it's heated through and the vegetables are cooked to desired done-ness.

Water and ice fun for toddlers

 So I found this activity on Pinterest a few weeks ago, but didn't pin it because it was with a whole bunch of other activities that didn't seem as appealing. Now I can't find the place I copied it from to give them credit!

Anyway, the basic idea is to put down a towel, get out a few bowls, and put ice and water in them, and give the toddler some spoons to transfer the ice. I learned to make sure there's only enough water and ice for the smallest bowl. Levi doesn't care if a bowl's already full; he just pours it all in, letting the excess spill onto the towel. That's the reason the towel's there, but it's better not to have more water than the towel can hold.

I think Levi would enjoy it more with more bowls of a greater variety, but I didn't have enough big bowls.

The first time Levi played with the water and ice, he was entertained for at least a whole hour! Subsequent times were not as interesting for him, but he still enjoyed playing for a while.

Day 12: Find 10 random words and create your own definitions.

Starting the 30-day writing challenge again. Austin did well on this one; I hope I do half as well!

____________

feast - n, pl. multiple accomplishments

spaceship - n. a vehicle with an extraordinary amount of room for cargo

reckless - adj. without accident or damage

trellis - n. an embellishment in music, based off of one single note.

fair - v. to sort debris from food.

factory - n. a place where fact and fiction become one.

tear - v. to give aid

indian - v. to revere nature

accountant - n. a very small record; so small that an insect could use it.

salon - n. a gift that makes one salivate

__________

I hope you guys enjoyed these! Let me know your thoughts on my puns in the comments.

I got the words from a random word generator located at this site.

Cabbage Lasagna Casserole

So here's another one of those recipes that I made up and didn't want to forget ... I know they maybe aren't as interesting as other things that are going on in my life, but I don't want to forget how to make something this good (and that my husband liked so much)!

The back story to this recipe is that someone posted on a Wymount community Facebook page that they had an extra head of lettuce that they wouldn't be able to eat before it went bad, and asked if anyone wanted it. I replied, saying, "Yes! I'd love it!" So we arranged a time and I went to their apartment to pick it up. When I picked it up, the couple that gave it away said, "Sorry it's so small; you can make a salad or something out of it." It was smaller than most heads of lettuce that I was used to, but didn't think anything of it until after I was on my way back home. I looked at the head of lettuce, and lo and behold! It was cabbage! I had to laugh a little to myself. I had a pretty hard time telling the difference between lettuce and cabbage the first time I was looking for lettuce, and I think I remember Austin getting cabbage once at the grocery store when I asked for lettuce. The thing that really made me laugh, though, was thinking of that poor couple trying to eat tough cabbage in a salad as if it were lettuce!

When I got home, I posted on the thread about the "lettuce" that it looked like cabbage, and that knowing that might help the couple eat it before it went bad. I said it in a nice way, of course.

So after this incident, I had some cabbage on my hands that I needed to use up. I also had some ricotta cheese in the fridge left over from the last time I made lasagna. I guessed there must be a way to cook them in the same recipe. I did an internet search for "cabbage ricotta cheese recipe" and found this recipe, which I based the following recipe on (I think I improved it!).


Cabbage Lasagna Casserole

12 oz pkg of garden rotini

1/2 lb ground beef
2 T canola oil
1 small head of cabbage, cored and chopped
1/2 large onion, diced
15-20 oz ricotta cheese
2 eggs
2-3 oz Parmesan cheese
Salt, pepper, and garlic to taste

Brown ground beef at medium-high temperature in medium large saucepan. Drain off excess fat; add onion and cabbage, then add oil (you use the oil to replace the fat from the beef because animal fat contains a lot of saturated fat, which clogs your veins. Canola oil is one of the healthiest vegetable oils out there). Add about 1 t salt, 1/4 t garlic, and 1/2 t pepper; saute over medium/medium high heat until cabbage is cooked through. You may like more or less of any of these seasonings according to your taste.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 deg F and cook pasta according to package directions; drain pasta.

In a 13" x 9" glass baking dish, combine ricotta, eggs, and Parmesan. Mix in pasta, then cabbage mixture. Sprinkle top of mixture with a thin layer of Parmesan and add some mozzarella on top to make it look melty. Bake in 350 deg F oven for 30 minutes; serve and enjoy!

Sing, sing, sing!

Levi has started singing!

It's exciting :) He has accompanied the congregation a few times while we're singing hymns, but every time either Austin or I started singing something at home, Levi would say, "No!" and if we kept singing, he'd say, "No! No. Nooooo." It was kinda funny and kinda sad at the same time.

Anyway, he's started singing!

I sang "Once there Was a Snowman" to him, and he liked it so much that he just kept asking for me to sing "man!" I sang it over and over again. Once, just to shake things up a bit, I changed key by a whole step each time I sang it. I started out low and went up as high as I was comfortable, then came back down. The first time I changed key to a lower key, Levi giggled. He giggled the next few times, too. It was so cute!

Finally, I persuaded him to let me sing a different song. I told Levi that I was done singing the snowman song, and I was going to sing something else. I named a couple, and he just kept saying what sounded like "Sun." I eventually sang, "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam," but he said "Jesus" for that one when he wanted me to sing it again, so I must have guessed the wrong song. The other day I sang "Popcorn Popping" to him, and now that's all he wants to hear! He calls it "Pop."

Hearing all this singing must have prepared him to sing himself, because the other day, Levi started singing "Bum bum bum bum" with us to the song we were listening to. He kept doing it after Austin and I stopped, too! He could work a little more on staying on key, but we'll worry about that later. If we worry about it at all, that is. What a fun kid!

Recent reads

I haven't made a list of books I've read recently in a while, so here's a new list! It's definitely NOT all-inclusive; I don't remember all of the books I've read since my last "Books I've read recently" post.

Fiction:
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede (loved it!)
Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede
The Far West by Patricia C. Wrede
Golden by Cameron Dokey (would recommend!)
The Storyteller by Cameron Dokey
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (too violent)
Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale (meh)
Princess Academy: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale


Non-fiction:
Queen of Scots : the true life of Mary Stuart by J. A. (John Alexander) Guy
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson
Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu by Laurence Bergreen
To the Rescue: the Biography of Thomas S. Monson by Heidi S. Swinton
Life's Lessons Learned by Dallin H. Oaks
Yearning for the Living God by F. Enzio Busche

I highly recommend all of the non-fiction books listed above. They were all very informative, and many were inspiring (I think you can guess which ones).

I also tried to read some biographies for John Taylor, but neither was what I was looking for. I am open to suggestions!

Want to read:
Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times by H. W. Brands
Glimpses into the life and heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley
a biography of Pearl S. Buck
quality biographies on all Church presidents

Pumpkin pie smoothie

Too good to forget!

3-4 ice cubes
1 small banana
1 pear
1/2 C canned pumpkin
1/2 C milk
dash allspice

Place all ingredients in blender; blend, enjoy!

Broccoli chicken casserole

I just made a broccoli chicken casserole that is delicious, and I don't want to forget how I made it. Here:

2 heads of raw broccoli
1 egg
1 10 oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 chicken breast
4 oz (?) mozzarella cheese (enough to cover the broccoli)
garlic, salt, and pepper to taste

Cut broccoli into bite-size pieces. You should have mostly florets. Place in casserole dish with soup, egg, garlic, salt, and pepper; mix together. Sprinkle mixture with cheese.

Meanwhile, slice chicken breast into strips; layer evenly on top of cheese.

Bake everything in 350 deg F oven for 25 min; serve with rice or pasta.


EDIT: I just made this again and I think I forgot to say that I included milk in the original recipe, probably the same amount as the amount of cream of mushroom soup in the casserole.

Quack, quack!

Too adorable to not share!

My son the duck :)

Toddler Literacy: recent developments

Levi has started saying ending consonants regularly!

He used to say "ha" for ham, hat, and heart. He still says it for hat and heart, but now he says "ham" for ham! Yay :) Also, it's super cute to hear him say "ha...mm."

The first word he put an ending consonant on was "house." He says it pretty much perfectly. I'm impressed that he says the diphthong as well as the ending syllable.

Levi now also has two formula sentences: "I want" and "It's." It took a while to figure out what he meant by "it's" because it sounded like "es," but we did eventually.

He also *finally* will listen to a story in a book as it was written. He's a far cry from the 10-month-old that would rip up any book he got his hands on, or be fascinated with the mechanism of turning pages just to ignore the beautifully illustrated pictures. To encourage his now budding interest in books, Austin and I have decided to drop everything when he asks for us to read a book to him (unless of course, there's an emergency with something else).

The other day, Levi suddenly got very quiet. He usually talks to himself as he plays in addition to moving his toys around, so I was worried that he'd gotten into something he wasn't supposed to have gotten into. I peered around the couch to see that he was looking very intently at the pictures in one of his books. I smiled and resumed what I had been doing. A couple of minutes later, Levi said, "Ha(t)!" I said, "Do you see a hat?" and with his reply "Mmm-hmm," I looked over to see a picture of a party hat in his book.

I've caught him examining the pictures in his books on other occasions, too. It makes this bookworm of a momma happy!

BMI: reliable or outdated?

I realized just a few weeks ago that I was overweight according to my BMI (I was just barely overweight, at 140 lbs and 5'2"). I was surprised at that because of all the positive attention the media has been giving lately to people who say that models are overly skinny and "real women" are much bigger. The media (and my friends) had been giving so much support to this movement that I thought I was just fine as a "real woman."

So when I found out that I was overweight, I was taken off guard. I was so surprised that I figured that other people probably didn't know that they were overweight, either. I mentioned how surprised I was about being overweight in a recent conversation. The person I was talking to said that using your BMI to determine if you were overweight or not is outdated and inaccurate in many cases. At the time, all I could say was that it's really only inaccurate for people who have a lot of muscle mass. Since then, I've realized that BMI is what has been used in the studies about how weight and health are related. Therefore, even if it's an outdated and inaccurate means to determine your body's fitness, the average person's health risks can be determined by their BMI.

According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention - a government-funded organization), some health issues from being overweight or obese are these:

-Coronary heart disease
-Type 2 diabetes
-Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)
-Hypertension (high blood pressure)
-Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)
-Stroke
-Liver and Gallbladder disease
-Sleep apnea and breathing problems
-Osteoarthritis (a breakdown of cartilage and bone within a joint)
-Gynecological problems (abnormal periods, infertility)

This isn't about my vanity; it's about my health!

Also, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) states that "If you have abdominal obesity and most of your fat is around your waist rather than at your hips, you're at increased risk for coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The risk goes up with a waist size that's greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men."

On the flip side, I have a friend who is the same height as me, 5' 2". She stays at 125 lbs "no matter what" she eats, according to her. She says her ideal weight is 107. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't function very well at 107 lbs, and that for my very individual body, I would be underweight. (Just FYI - "normal" body weight for someone that's 5'2" is 101 - 136 lbs). I was surprised that the range for normal was 35 lbs apart from low to high. I think that alone factors in the differences between body types and shapes.

I think 120-125 is probably my ideal body weight, and not lower. You see, I have a very close relationship with food, and need my energy. I will also probably have a relatively slow journey to get to that ideal weight (I'm ~136 now, after 2 months of exercise and almost 1 month of eating better). However, one little-known fact is that most of the energy that you use throughout the day is energy stored in your muscles (from food you ate that day), not your fat. Prolonged exercise is what uses up your fat stores.

For your convenience, here are two BMI calculators, one from the CDC website, and the other from the NHLBI website .