Dinner and a Show

The view from my deck at the moment is so beautiful. We were so lucky to have bought a house with a gorgeous landscaped yard. I mean GORGEOUS!

I still have no idea what I'm doing. Right now, I'm just trying not to kill anything and learn everyone's names.

Not sure why everything is underlined... Makes me feel like I should say something really important! I can't get the underline out! UGH!

Dinner wasn't bad either! I made chicken fajitas. I did everything on the grill and it was so delicious! The chicken and veggies were marinated in lime, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper. I threw in some liquid smoke, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Just a great marinade! Email me for the recipe and I'll link you up!

For those of you who know my husband, you'll be shocked to find out that Andy has now added red bell peppers to his list of vegetables he'll eat if you make him. GO ANDY!

It was a wonderful dinner. All of us enjoying our dinner on the deck and taking in the show (the view).

Adam enjoyed some broccoli, chicken and apricots, and cubed sweet potatoes. Such a big boy!

Don't forget to wear Orange tomorrow to honor little warrior, Owen.

Can you believe tomorrow is JUNE!?!?!

Wednesday is Orange for Owen

This is from Melissa Bissing who lost her 6 month old, Owen. She and her husband have donated as many organs as they could and have remained steadfast in their faith. They have 3 other little boys at home. She's asking for all to wear orange on Wednesday. Orange was Owen's color.

You can find more of her posts here.

Can I ask a favor?

Don’t treat me differently … share the good things in your life with me. Come to me when you need someone to listen. I’m not broken beyond repair. I want to share in your happiness and sorrow too.

Random tid bit … I really liked this poem I found:

The mention of my child’s name
May bring tears to my eyes,
But it never fails to bring
Music to my ears.
If you are really my friend,
Let me hear the beautiful music of his name.
It soothes my broken heart
And sings to my soul.

Another favor, I know I’m greedy. If you are able to, you are welcome to come to the funeral. We went through this with open arms and we wouldn’t finish it any less. Owen needs a full army for this battle.

All are welcome to attend. Come when you can and leave when you must. (In other words, don’t feel like you can’t stay for the service.) Owen’s story and spirit will be shared. I can’t help but want to scream it from the rooftops and have as many people experience his warrior spirit.

Third favor … now I’m REALLY greedy. Wear orange. The triplets all have their colors. Logan is ‘lime green.’ Get it? Both start with L. Weston is ‘winter blue’ (because white is boring). And Owen is orange.

Yellow Mellow

Remember when???

The Loves of my Life

OUT OF THE KICHEN: The other day, Andy noticed that Adam was always reaching for his yellow toys. So, while in the bath tonight, we put a yellow ducky next to other colored toys and every time he reached for the yellow ducky!

How cool that his daddy noticed this!

In other Adam news - he started army crawling today. He can stand while holding on to me or the furniture. He can pull himself up in his crib. He can walk while holding on to my pants or my hands. He rolls all over the place and boy is he FAST!

He's eating cheese now and uses his pinchers to grasp it. So adorable!

We've been having a blast hanging out with friends and enjoying the wonderful weather. Andy has taken to gardening like a pro and I even planted a couple planters this year. Ugh. Dirt. We've also hired nanny one day a week to allow mommy and daddy to go on a date night. I try not to bombard her with phone calls and texts... :-) She's doing great and it also helps that our neighbor, a police officer, keeps an eye out for us.

I can't believe its the end of May already! My baby brother will be turning 25 tomorrow. Wow! I thought I was 25! I sure miss him but I know he's happy and having the time of his life out in CA.

Time just flies. Our summer calendar is already filling up! With a trip to Estes Park followed by a trip to Canada, we're a busy bunch! We're lucky to have such wonderful friends and family housesitting and pet sitting while we're away. I'm so looking forward to seeing my family and taking on Adam on our first family vacation!

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE being a mom. I really hope that God's plans are for me to have more children. This family is my passion. I can't imagine doing anything else.

IN THE KITCHEN:

Adam's palette is growing! We've steamed and baked sweet potatoes, steamed green beans, pears, and peaches. He also eats baked chicken thighs, whole milk yogurt, mild cheddar cheese crumbles, banana, and avocado. I'm eating just about everything now except obvious soy and peanuts. I'm cautious with the other nuts - but so far so good!

Recipe of the day - Chicken Parmesan. I made it tonight with spinach linguine. It was delicious! If you'd like the recipe - email me directly!

That's all for now! I promise the next post will have more pictures!

Leave a Light on

Leave a Light on for Baby Owen.

I'm leaving my outside lights on for Baby Owen so that Heaven can see them too.

(Copied from creightonchic.blogspot.com) - Thanks, Megan, for this post.
If you have any prayers to spare, this family could sure use them. . .

I ended up checking out a blog for a fellow multiple momma after a Facebook friend posted a prayer request a couple of days ago. This family is going through a really tough time right now. They have a 4 year old son and 6 month old boy triplets. On May 22nd, the mom (Mel) was doing baths and putting the triplets to bed when they noticed that Owen, one of the triplets, had flipped himself onto his tummy in his crib. When they went to flip him back onto his back (babies are supposed to sleep on their backs now to reduce SIDS risk) he was unresponsive. Mel called 911 and started CPR on little Owen. Long story short, this little guy has been in the hospital since the 22nd with a very grim prognosis, only a 2% chance of survival. The family found out today that his EEG (brain waves) were flat, no activity. In the morning they will take him off of the ventilator to verify that he can not breathe on his own. They have then decided to donate his organs.

I can not even imagine the pain this family is going through. So many people have sent well wishes and prayers, and Mel has unwaivering faith and trust in God, she is seriously an amazing woman. My heart breaks for her and her family. So my one request for tonight is that you add this family to your prayers for the forseeable future. I can't imagine losing a child. So young. So innocent. So sudden. It's just awful. If you'd like to visit her blog and leave a comment letting her know of your support, you can do that here: bissingfamily.wordpress.com

Life is so short. Remember to love deeply, forgive quickly, and live every day to the fullest. I think we all forget how precious life really is. I am holding my girlies a little closer tonight. I hope you do the same.

Funny Face Friday!

You all know that Rebecca Black song, right? "Friday, Friday. Gotta get down on Friday..." I can't get it out of my head. Every single Friday. It happens. Usually the night before while I'm trying to go sleep but instead think about every possible thing I should/could do on Friday, Friday. UGH!

Last night, instead Rebecca Black's broken record playing in my head, I couldn't stop thinking about those in the South. About all the people who didn't have beds that night. Who lost their loved ones...... their children.... their parents... I snuck into Adam's room a couple times to just kiss him.

Now that we're in a new house this year I had to make our tornado kits again. We are good to go after I put some more water down in basement with some extra tennis shoes. Its scary stuff. Every Spring, Andy the insurance man, just shudders when the weather report mentions anything but sunny skies. Such is life in the midwest.

ANYWAY, I thought I needed to cheer myself up. So here are some funny faces from Adam. Take some time to make a funny face yourself today. It'll do the trick!

Love,

Sheila

Friday.

EASTER!

HOPPY EASTER!

Did the Easter Bunny visit you?

He came to our house! We had so much fun with Adam's Easter basket! And he seemed to like it too! He got some sippy cups, pacifiers, toys, bubbles, a book, and a little bunny! The Easter bunny also brought Adam's 4th tooth! All front teeth have popped in. Poor buddy!

I think the BUBBLES were his favorite!

We all wore coordinating Easter outfits. Yes, I'm THAT mom. Andy was a good sport. I paraded us around church showing everyone how ADORABLE we were. I'll post some pictures of that later...

Easter dinner was at my house this year. I made a feast expecting a small army. But for the five of us who were there - It WAS quite delicious! We had a honey baked ham, candied sweet potatoes, potato and shitake mushroom gratin, roasted asparagus with mushrooms, spinach salad with strawberries and candied pumpkin seeds with a strawberry vinegrette, deviled eggs, apple and banana salad, sweet berry salad, and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert!

(And not a picture to boot. UGH!)

The entire feast was mspi friendly!

It was great to see my parents and Andy's dad, Lyle, came too! Adam enjoyed being the center of attention and soaked up all the Grandparent love!

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. Its a time of year where we celebrate rebirth, forgiveness, acceptance, and humility. Wishing you all a blessed Easter!

Love,

Sheila

Mommy and Me Monday

Hosted by Krystyn
I thought I'd take a break from the screaming bloody murder Monday to post a pic of my baby and Me! Too often, moms are stuck behind the camera... So here's proof that mom really exists! And in "keeping it real" mom is wearing NO makeup. (I'm so brave.)

In other news: Adam is cutting a tooth today. It looks like it hurts so bad and he's quite beside himself. Some tylenol and ice chips in the mesh feeder will hopefully help a bit! LONG DAY!

Snack of the day: MSPI friendly Blueberry muffins: Mix 3/4 C. Hemp milk with 1/4 C. Safflower oil, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 cup of sugar. In a separate bowl mix 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until dry ingredients are incorporated. Batter should be LUMPY! Add some blueberries. Line a muffin pan (or grease it) and bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Makes 12 regular muffins.

They're pretty tasty - better undercooked and with a butter alternative. I like Earth Balance Soy Free.

Recipe Adapted from: http://eatingoutmspi.blogspot.com/