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Dinner Tonight

When I spent a summer in Oregon back in the college years, I got to eat fresh yummy salmon a few times and fell in love with it even more than I already liked it.  I hated salmon crochets as a child, but fresh salmon, though an acquired taste, is delish.  Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon (tastier and healthier than farm raised) was on sale at Publix this week, so this is what we had for dinner:

Pecan brown sugar glazed salmon, brown rice, and broccoli.

It was yum-yummy.  Speed Racer did not eat much of it, but Princess made her plate all clean.

Our friend, Ms. Jill, gave us some peaches, okra, and tomatoes from her grandfather in law, so I made a peach cobbler for dessert.  Thank you, Jill!  Fresh fried okra will be on the menu soon!

It's all from scratch!  (not the prettiest)

I'm not a kid anymore

Inside my head, despite the fact that I have 3 kids who I regularly feed, dress, play with, teach, and care for, I feel like kid.  My mind cannot wrap itself around the idea that I am a full fledged adult of *gasp* 33 years.  I keep wondering when my mind will catch up to my body.  I also wonder if when I am 60 (hopefully), will I still think this or by then will I think I'm only 33?  And I'm not the only mommy who seems to feel this way.  Just last week at bible study around the circle, none of us could believe we were not teenagers.  A few things that make me aware that I'm not a kid anymore is by looking at childhood photos posted on facebook and things like this:

Me with part of the spiritual coat of armor on

How does this picture signify I am no longer a child you might ask.  Well, I have on the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, and the belt of truth which the bible says is to be fitted around my waist.  However, in my case, it only fits around my thigh.  Yes, I am no longer a skinny kid with a skinny waist.  No folks, the reality is, I am a mother of 3.

My little buddy asked me to get dressed so I could fight him.  Here he is with the helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  The belt, by the way, in no way fits him - it falls right off!

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, 

against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and 

against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, 

you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, 

with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 

and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, 

with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. 

With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.  

Ephesians 6:11-18

Weight Loss

So since I've had Doodlebug, I've been trying to lose the baby weight.
With Princess, I gained roughly 30 lbs.   Lost it, gained about 5 back.
With Speed Racer, I gained only 25 lbs.  Lost it and the extra 5 to my original weight and then another 3 lbs.  Sometime or another I gained the 3 back plus 7 more.  So I was roughly 7 lbs more than the weight I usually hold steady at when I got pregnant with Doodlebug.  With her, I gained 25 lbs.

After I had her I lost 17 lbs in the first few weeks.  And then I joined weight watchers and started regularly exercising on the wii fit.  In 10 weeks on WW, I have lost 13 lbs and 13 inches all over!  I am 3 lbs shy of the weight I like to hang around out.  I am hoping to lose 13 more.

Finding time to exercise with small kids around is hard, but since I've actually been exercising, I have felt so good.  I am more motivated than I ever have been.  I did not exercise regularly beforehand.  I had this strange idea that I had to cater to my children at all times of the day, but now I realize that it is good for them to see me get up and move and they even attempt to do it with me sometimes.  So this post is here so you can ask me if I am still exercising.

Summer Days

Daniel has been under the weather this week, so last night I took the kids on a mommy date for pizza.  I thought they were going to get free slices, but when I got there, I found out you had to buy two adult meals for any free slice.  We decided to go there anyhow.  While we were there, the kids and I waited patiently for our food.  When his drink and food came, Speed Racer said thank you both times with no prompting by me.  Later a nice lady stopped to tell me that I had the most polite children.  Any time you receive a compliment on your child's behavior, it is grand.  Because it is not only a compliment to them but to all of your hard work.  And yes, I know how secretly they really behave at home, but one can revel in the small accomplishments when they come.  When we were halfway finished with our meal, Speed Racer yelled, "I've gotta go potty!"  So all of us got up and went to the potty.  When we returned to our table only two minutes later, our food was gone and the hostess was finishing with cleaning the table.  I looked horrified, I am sure, because my kids were still hungry.  She realized what she had done, and then we had to wait patiently all over again to eat the rest of our dinner.  All in all, it was a very long dinner and I was glad that the kids waited so patiently to eat.

Today I wanted to take them out to the park or something, but when I walked outside I decided we would stay here.  Too hot to be at the park for long, so I decided it would take more time to load them into the car than we would actually stay and play, so we stayed at home.  I wish we had a big pool to hang out at all the time, but we do not. Anyhow, we decided to play ROAR and Hide n Seek, and we had the best time.  It was full of lots of giggles, laughter, and fun, as well as boos and scares.  I love playing with my kids, but now that Princess and Speed Racer play so well together, I don't get to play as much.  Plus, I can easily get distracted by my house duties when they start playing.  My love language is quality time, however, so when I get to play, I feel loved by them and feel that I am showing my love to them more than I could any other way.  So today was fabuloso - one of the wonderful things about summer.

Happy Birthday Speed Racer

My little man is 3 today!

 Fresh out of the oven!

Princess seeing him for the first time

3 weeks

First Birthday!

Hiding in a box on his 1st birthday!

He's 2!

Brother and sister when he was 2!

At 2!

Almost 3!

Getting to see Mr. Potato Head at Chick-Fil-A! (almost 3)

My how things have changed over the years!  A new baby sister!

Hide n Seek

Okay, I guess I am about to divulge too much information.  Do you remember playing hide n seek as a child?  Well, when I am sad or frustrated or discouraged, I still like to hide in a small closet somewhere as if I were a child again playing hide n seek, only I don't want to be found.  I want to stay hidden away.  When I was young, my dad had a horrible temper, and I often wanted to hide and run away from the rage that would explode from him.  As a result, I was often too afraid to talk to my parents, and I learned to hide the secret parts of me inside not just from them but from everyone.  Instead of learning to talk it out in a healthy manner, I often journaled my frustrations, which apart from this blog, I rarely do now.

Because I like to hold it all inside with the exception of a panicked one line status update on facebook, I am sometimes hard to get to know, though I think I am better than I used to be.  I've been called a number of things from contrite to shy to stuck up.  I don't know if any of them are true or if they are all true.  I don't even know if it was my nature to be quiet or if it was a learned response to my environment.  Whatever the case, God used it to shape me and who I am and so I am thankful for it.  My mom always said the song "In My Room" by the Beach Boys reminded her of me.



One day last week, all day, was one of those days that I just had an on-going internal monologue and really needed to write to release all of the things I had managed to hold inside, but I couldn't find the time.  None of the things were big, just tons of questions I had like "Am I doing this parenting thing right.  I don't do it like so and so does.  Is her way the best way?"  I don't remember what happened at the end of day except for just needing to "hide," and though I was hiding, I did not want to be found or bothered.  Usually I do.  Usually I like to be pursued.  This day, I just wanted the quiet to surround me and comfort me as it did when I was a child.  In the quiet, God whispered to me,

I am your hiding place; I will protect you from trouble and surround you with songs of deliverance.  Psalm 32:7
I hem you in, behind and before, and My Hand is upon you.  Psalm 139:5
I am familiar with all your ways.  Psalm 139:3
You cannot go away from my Spirit or flee my Presence.  Psalm 139:7
I have called you by name; you are Mine.  Isaiah 43:1
For I am the Lord Your God, the Holy One, of Israel.  Isaiah 43:3

Though I wanted to hide, there is comfort in knowing that I cannot hide from Him and that I have a husband who cares enough to want to understand the secret things about me instead of letting me hide away in my shell.  I have not learned how to always be real with people when I am fragile and afraid whether it be about something small or something huge unless I am able to write it down like a silly school girl.  I still like to put on my strong walls of defense (the quiet) and cower away for fear that no one will care or notice my distress.  This is true even with my hubby.  I don't give people an opportunity to help me, and I will even run away unknowingly at times from God.  His gentle whispers reminded me that even though those things shaped me and made me into who I am, He is still working on me and wants me to transform again and move past the quiet.  I know as a parent I do not want my children to be quiet and uncommunicative like me.  I want to be able to know the deepest parts of them and help them overcome the hard things, even when their difficulties seem too much for me - God is with me.

Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified, for I am with you.  I will never leave you or forsake you.  Deut 31:6.

In what ways are you hiding today?  Have you been found by the One who is Pursuing You?  Will you let Him be your Hiding Place?

Doodlebug is Huge

Doodlebug went in for her two month checkup on Wednesday of this week, which means she had her first set of shots.  She is 2 1/2 months old already, and she weighed in at 12 lbs 13 oz and was 24 inches long.  I knew she was big, but I did not know just how big!  This puts her between 75th and 90th percentile for length and weight!  Now, I have never had a big baby.  At Princess's 2 month appointment, she only weighed 9 lbs 7 oz, and was between 5th and 10th percentile.  She stayed at 25th percent the rest of her babyhood and at her last checkup was up to average on weight.  When Speed Racer went for his 2 month appointment, he was still in the 50th percentile, but quickly fell between 5th and 10th by his 4 month checkup and has stayed around 10th.  I wonder what little Miss Doodlebug is going to do.  I've never had a big baby before!  It is kinda sad and exciting all at once, because she is growing faster than I want her to, but she is very healthy, and I am happy about that.  Like Speed Racer was as a baby, she is very mild mannered and generally cries when hungry or sleepy and that's all.  She is a blessing, and I can hardly remember life without her.  She is a talker - when talked to, she coos and coos.  She is already laughing.  I told the doctor that, and I could tell she was skeptical, and then Dr. D heard her.  Dr. D was so excited and surprised.  Doodle generally sleeps most of the night.  I can handle getting up between 4am and 5am, and she usually feeds 6 or 7 times a day (nursed).  We try to do cloth diapers when we are at home.  Modern cloth diapers are expensive to begin with, but it is nice because I haven't had to buy any disposables yet (though that is quickly coming to an end), and the cloth ones we have are supposed to be usable until she is potty trained!  It is actually kinda fun to put her in cloth diapers - they are cute.  Besides that, it is no different and at least easier than cleaning up potty trained poop accidents in underwear which is unfortunately more common than I would like! 

We have already traveled with Doodle.  She has been to Destin to the beach with the whole family and to New Orleans with mommy and daddy.  She is a great traveler too.  So that's the update on Doodle.  Now we have two little princesses in our home.  Both Princess and Speed Racer think she's the best and love and dote on her when they can, though the newness of her is starting to wear off.