Happy Birthday Blog!

Dear Blog,

Happy Birthday! It was one year ago that I wrote your first post. We had just seen our first ultrasound and wanted to share it with everyone we loved. That began a journey of documenting our life--especially life with our sweet addition, Tucker. Thank you for allowing me to reflect, record, and just write about nothing.

Love,

Your Author

And thanks to all of you for taking the time to read about our life! This blog has been a great place of escape, reflection, and joy! Hope you continue to keep up with us here!

FREE dinner!

If you watched Oprah today, you're already "in the know", but today, Oprah announced that you can get a FREE chicken dinner from KFC if you download this coupon before 9:59 pm tomorrow night (may 6th)! You get 2 pieces of grilled chicken (they just started making this), 2 sides, and a biscuit FOR FREE! I'm not one to endorse Oprah, but hey, I'll take a free meal! Enjoy!

Life Shared

Today I walked through life with my friend... It was a hold a child's hand while blood's being drawn, walk laps around the hall until the baby stops crying, hold down baby while his whole body gets xrayed, talk to doctors, get no answers, sleep-deprived kind of day.

I got to spend a little more than 24 hours with my best friend Sharon and her little BOY Bosten at Duke Children's Hospital. What a tough place to be. Everywhere you look there is another story of a life that has been hit hard by health issues. It is so surreal that my friend is one of those people and it is even more difficult that they are in the middle of a long journey of the unknown. This is certainly one of the more difficult things I've ever walked through with a friend, yet it is something that will forever mark our friendship and our lives.

Let me tell you something about my friend Sharon... She is an AMAZING mom. She is so patient even though the crying is enough to send you over the edge...She is calm even when everything around her is telling her to be stressed out...She is full of smiles for her little boy even though she is sleep deprived...She is TRUSTING our God with her little boy, even though it would be easy to take it all into her own hands. I am being challenged and shaped by watching her go through this trial and I could only hope that I would persevere like she is in this valley. To me, this is what LIFE is all about. Walking together--in the trenches and up on the mountain tops. What a gift that we don't have to live this life alone. This is a tough road, but there's nowhere I'd rather be than walking right beside my friend.

Please continue to pray for sweet BOSTEN and Ryan, Sharon, and Elle. Keep up with the latest updates on their caring bridge page!

Making BabyFood

I'm crazy, I know... But, it's really not too bad! I decided to make Tucker's baby food for a few reasons...I like to cook, I own a food processor, we're trying to save money, and I have the time... at least now that I only have one child :)

CARROTS

Steaming...


Food Processing...


Pureeing...


Ice Traying...


Then, the ice trays go into the freezer...once frozen, you pop out the cubes of food and store in ziploc bags in order to free up your ice trays! I just take out one or two cubes to thaw a few hours before a feeding. One bag of carrots filled almost 3 ice trays which will be at least 15 feedings...this cost around $4 (organic carrots) compared to $15 of the same amount of organic baby food jars! I'm saving A LOT, putting forth a little time and effort, and feeding my baby fresh, yummy food!

Tucker Weekly

Tucker is 29 weeks old today!

He is sitting up all on his own...He's added sweet potatoes and carrots to his diet...he loves "story time" and especially loves Mirror Me and The Going to Bed Book...He's been on the swing at the park...and He can take baths sitting up now!



We are LOVING being outside as much as possible! At the end of the day, we've been taking a blanket in the backyard under our big trees to hang out and play while Daddy throws the tennis ball with Grey!

Tuesday Fun!

It was just a matter of time before the boys started dressing Tucker up...





"Dress up as much as you want, as long as there are no pink, dresses, or long hair!" says Daddy! And to that I say, Tucker is in the right place...we will find nothing that even resembles a girl at that house!

Excuse the poor pictures...the camera phone was the only option I had!

herbs + tomatoes = yummy, fresh food for summer!

Today a long-time request of mine was granted when Brad and I planted some fresh herbs and a few tomato plants! I love to cook, especially with fresh ingredients...so, having an assortment of herbs in my own backyard will be much cheaper than buying them weekly at the store! We also LOVE tomatoes in the summer...BLT's...caprese salad...fresh pasta sauce... So, it will be fun to walk on the back deck to get those as well! We have never had any sort of garden, so this will be our experiment and maybe we'll plant some more stuff next year! We had fun with our little get-our-hands-dirty project...enjoy the pictures!

**If you live locally, we were able to find most of our herbs, tomato plants, and planter boxes at ACE Hardware in Cornelius...they had a GREAT selection and were very helpful! Happy Gardening!