40 weeks...still waiting on baby E

SOO spot on! haha :)

40 weeks!

(comparison)

40 weeks with Sienna

where did all this sass come from?

Something has been happening to my child as shes beeen inching closer to two and a half..slowly but surely, this little two-nager has turned into quite a sassy little thing. Sometimes it's funny, and cute...sometimes it is absolutely shocking (like this past weekend, when she tried to put ME in a timeout, because I raised my voice at her. Yes, my two year old told me to go on timeout, and not to get up until she said I could...really?!?) and sometimes it is just plain exasperating, like when she sasses us if she gets mad or frustrated.

Her answer to everything shes told she cant have is: 

"But I want it" (in a whiny voice may I add)

I remember people warned me of this...how girls could be quite a handful...I just thought we had two, or four, or thirteen more years before we had to deal with the sass! I can tell you this...it's a lesson in patience. I always thought I was a pretty patient person...I have now learned that I have a lot to work on in that department. I love her fiery spirit. She reminds me so much of her daddy...that passion and fire was one of the things I fell in love with him for. But just like her daddy, her fiery spirit takes a bit of patience to handle. And I know, once she grows up, I'm going to look back on this time, and realize that this little girl's sass was another life lesson...my lesson in patience.

- flashback friday -

I seriously die when I see old pictures of Sienna!  She had this perfectly round, chubby face that I always wanted to squeeze!! Eeee! I CAN NOT believe how much she has grown up in two years!

Food for thought

I came across a quote a few days ago that was simple and true.

"remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care that they get." h. jackson brown jr.

just like flower gardens and gardens of all kinds, the most important relationships in our lives, our marriages and those with our children, reflect the care that is put in.  Just as if you over water your seeds, what results is muddiness and smothering, your flowers unable to stand tall.  If you neglect your dear plants, they shrivel up.  It takes a delicate balance and patience and trial and error to see how much care is needed.  One does not simple just know. These things require work....they require balance...they require love.

As a mother and wife I know what it means to have to work everyday to keep my garden flourishing.  There are days that I may be too harshly, leaving me feeling guilty and broken.  Whereas there are other days that I seem to get the recipe just right.  Those days end in laughs before bedtime and sweet memories being made.  They reaffirm my ability to mother well and to be a good wife...they are not everyday moments, but when they do indeed happen they remind me of how blessed I am.

All in all, what I most take away from this quote is that nurturing is the most important.  Tending - though not easy nor without its frustrations, is the constant that we need present with our babies and our partners.  



some food for thought.  

Clean Eating Peanut Butter Cups

Clean Eating Peanut Butter Cups

(Yield will vary depending on size of mold used)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup virgin coconut oil
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 jar clean peanut butter, smooth works best

Directions:

• In a medium pot, combine all ingredients except the peanut butter.
• Whisk thoroughly over low to medium heat until the chocolate is smooth.
• Using either an oiled silicone mini muffin pan (regular size works too) OR foil cupcake papers in a regular muffin pan, fill the wells 1/3 of the way up with chocolate. Keep the chocolate warmed over low heat if possible or on the warm setting in your slow cooker.
• Freeze these for 15 minutes.
• Remove them from freezer and add another 1/3 using peanut butter.
• Freeze for 15 minutes.
• Remove them from freezer and add the last 1/3 with more chocolate.
• Freeze for at least 2 hours.
• Store in freezer. These get melty pretty quickly, so if you want to serve them but don’t want them frozen, put them in the fridge for about 20 minutes, then serve.
• Note: These are very good straight out of the freezer.

Life lately: waiting for baby #2

Watching: to pass time till baby gets here Hubs & I started watching OITNB after Sienna goes down for the night...thoughts on it? we are pretty hooked.

Feeling: Ever since I started going to a chiropractor - GREAT! My midwife suggested it to see if it would possibly help baby move into proper position for labor. I had a major  sciatic nerve pain for months from my hip all the way down my leg that is now GONE...baby has budged from her posterior position and I have no backpain this pregnancy...WIN WIN WIN!

Wanting:to know when this baby is coming!! I dont care if its in 2 hours or 2 weeks, I just wanna know when! The waiting and wondering is killing me.

Craving: krispy kreme donuts and muffins. common theme? carbs. I'll have to enjoy it while I can

Loving: my husbands baby shower gift from his co-workers. I couldnt stop laughing at it for days

Wearing: anything I can fit into nowadays, fashion has taken a back seat in my life. 

Wishing:  I could fast forward to Fall - Summer time is definitely not a perk of living in Arizona....can we say cabin fever?

Cooking:  lots of vegetarian meals these days, we are trying to cut down our meat intake. So far its been easy, I expected it to be much harder.

Making: Just finished making a mobile to hang above baby E's co-sleeper - a few hot glue gun burns later....I think it came out pretty darling.

Needing: to get Sienna into swim lessons ASAP,
 the girl is too fearless for her own good around water

Anticipating: the moment my girls meet for the first time, so curious what Sienna will think and say

 Enjoying:my time with my first baby before she has to share her mama

Hoping: I don't go into labor in the middle of the night, for some reason this has been the trend among my friends who recently had babies...3AM seems to be the magic time. 


So I'll be 39 weeks on friday, any predictions on when baby will come??
 I have a lot of guesses for the 12th as it will be a full moon

Some things I've learned

1. If someone repeatedly proves to you that they're vile and undeserving of your time, remove them from your life and don't look back. You'll be better off - I promise.

2. There is a way to maintain brutal honesty without being brutal. The older I become, the more sensitivity and grace become necessary.

3. Quality is more important than quantity, This stands true for things and people.

4. Shit happens.  Move on.  Dont dwell.

5. You really are what you eat - make conscious decisions with everything you put in your body.