slow down already

Sweet Punkin face on the road back to Tennessee from meeting some Texas Family. This is our second 7 hour road trip with him and both times he has been great! As much of travelers Matt and I are, it doesn't surprise me that he falls right into too.
I cannot believe how fast the last 4 months has gone. He is now cooing, squealing, laughing, rolling around, grabbing toes, reaching for things, reaching for Mommy (and saying, "Mommy, i love you!), and fighting nap time. duh. And might I add that he has slept thru the night since 5 weeks old! I always and hoped and prayed that he would inherit Mommy and Daddy's inapt ability to sleep through anything. So far, so good! OH! And I'm pretty sure he said "hi" this morning too. He is so advanced. ;)

I always knew i would love being a Mom, but i never knew i would love it like this. He is such a blessing, and no matter the stage, i count it as a blessing to parent him, love on him, and speak over him and just want to learn all i can. I get so frustrated when people say "Oh just wait till he is ONE and running around..." or "you have it easy now...just wait." Every stage is new and difficult because you have never been there before, and there is always a learning curve. We aren't supposed to have it all figured out. That is where the Grace of God comes in! Being a parent will never be "easy" but i chose to speak blessing over him, over us as parents, and others. Why would we speak a curse?

I just love every stage. I look forward to the next. I could have 10 more just like him.

Go ahead...tell me how cute he is. I KNOW! ;)

sweet potato fries

i LOVE sweet potatoes.
really love.
Maybe not as much as pumpkin (we all know i have a problem), but they are close cousins, so it makes sense.
I'm so predictable aren't I?

about a month ago i tried my hand at Sweet Potato french (baked) fries and they were FANTASTIC but i felt like they were missing something, so i tried again with some different spices, less oil, broiling to make them crispy, but something seemed to be missing and off.
THEN i found the secret from Annie Eats:

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt, plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil greased with cooking spray.

Halve the sweet potatoes lengthwise and cut each half into long spears. (Soak in cold water for 20-30 minutes before continuing for crispy texture outside. Drain well and pat dry.) Place the potato spears on the sheet pan and toss with olive oil. Spread them in a single layer. Combine the brown sugar, salt, and pepper and sprinkle on the potatoes. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn with a spatula or tongs. Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt and serve hot.

SOAK THE FRIES!!!! of course! (who am i kidding? i never would have thought of that!)
Crispy yumminess!
One other thing that i added that you might like is just a DASH of was Red Pepper. YUM!

give it a shot! great alternative for kiddos too!

funniest thing ever

VID00032, originally uploaded by jenna_cox.

laundry/blogging metaphor

You know how when you leave something for later, like the DOING the laundry or PUTTING UP the laundry, and you keep saying..."I'll do it tomorrow", and it piles up, and it gets bigger and taller and creeps all over the bedroom floor, whether clean or dirty, and instead of just doing it, you start to avoid it because it's so overwhelming that just the thought of carrying it to the laundry room is enough for you to put it off another day? "I'll do it this weekend when i really have time at home to do that and clean house and organize" you tell yourself, but then the weekend hits and you would rather slam your head in the wall than TRULY accomplishing it, AND then you realize that you are talking to yourself. (wait, is this metaphor for blogging or actually doing laundry? not sure anymore...)
Whew.
Well, that was me with the blog. SO much has happened and as the days went by, the thought of sitting down to catch you up to speed seemed like such a big task, that I kept saving it for another day. I still feel like that actually...AND i have laundry to do...LOTS of it, but you know how it goes. I really will get to laundry later since i am home now on an ice/snow day. uh, huh...thats what i always say...
So here is my pledge to you: i promise to be better. IN FACT, i have quite a few things to put up today so stay tuned: recipes, baby pictures, family, teething, snow, NKOTB, windows, etc.

did i resolute?

Looking back at 2009 and the things i said i wanted to do, here is a list of things i ACTUALLY did:

1. had a baby

Yup, thats about it...but it is the greatest...

Happy 2010!

poopiness

I have heard that breastfed babies can go up to 6 days without a poop and that is normal and nothing wrong with that. (How can that be normal?! ew.)

Well, we have had two-three situations of 6 days without one and it required the following:

1. separate bags to dispose of (immediatly taken outside)
2. soaking clothes
3. baths for everyone
4. change of the changing table pads
5. SO MANY WIPES it is ridiculous
6. minor throw up in my mouth…

Now Lil Man goes every 2-3 days. My baby is growing up...

STILL requires most of those things.

Oh Davis, how i will miss these times. (No.)