Oh the things she says.,.

Teagan broke out in some random take over her whole body hives yesterday that Benadryl didn't touch and got worse overnight. We decided she wouldn't go to daycare and would instead go to the doctor because we thought it might be strawberries. Thankfully it was just a random NON-contagious viral thing that needs to work its way out of her system. Since she didn't go to school today and the doctor asked her why Teagan told her:

"I'm not going to school today. I'm gonna stay with Mommy 'cause I got spots."

Gotta love the mind of a 3 year old!

Operation "De-frump"

One of my personal resolutions was to try and "defrump" myself.  I'd gotten into a rut of wearing stretchy pants and oversized shirts and basically one pair of boots or my running shoes.  It got pretty bad and I was pretty frumpy so I decided to do something about it.  I started thinking about what I put on for the day and even started wearing earrings, which if you've read this post you'll realize why that is a big deal.

I started posting some of my outfits, which happen to be of me standing in the bathroom on the toilet so the pictures aren't that good, when I've felt especially cute over the last few weeks and I thought I would share some with you!

If you'd like to join me in the transformation I've started, or at least I'm using, the hash tag #operationdefrump.

Jeans- New York and Company 

Boots- WalMart (3 years ago)

Button Up blue jean shirt- thrifted

Sweater-thrifted, Gap

Scarf- Old Navy

Leggings-Reebok, from Dick's Sporting Goods

Boots- WalMart

Coat- Old Navy

Sweater under the coat- it's gray from Target

and was only, $9! 

Shoes- JcPenny (super, SUPER, old)

Jeans- New York and Company

Shirt- thrifted, tag says Old Navy

Cardigan- thrifted, Gap

Booties- JcPenny 2 years ago

Leggings- just black, don't remember

where from

Dress- thrifted, tag says limited

Necklace- New York and Company 3

years ago

Purple moccasins- Target, last year

Jeans- New York and Company

T-shirt- Target

Sweater- Gap

Hat- Target, recent clearance 

Black wedges- Target

Black pants- WalMart

Shirt- WalMart

Black cardigan- thrifted, Gap

Earrings- Target

Happy Defrumping! 

  

And She's Three.

We officially have a three year old.  To be more specific we have a three year old girl.  Teagan has always been a sweet and helpful girl, now that sweetness and helpfulness has been sprinkled with a lot of sass and a double dose of tantrums.  Our house is full of rainbows and sunshine one minute and waterworks and dragon fire the next.
To be honest?  It's hard.  There are so many days where me counting to ten doesn't come close and twenty is usually not enough either.  Teagan has always been somewhat above average in her verbal skills and so remembering she is three by mere days is something Josh and I constantly have to remind ourselves of.  Just because she can talk like a four year old does not mean she has the emotional capacity of one.  Giving each other "the look" is a constant at our house these days.  The "she's only three, you need to calm down or take a parental time out" look.  The tantrums have escalated and the screams have increased to the sound of a screeching banshee.  There are days when I want to just stay at the hospital or school because I'm not sure what I am going to get when I pick her up from daycare.  It's almost comical how quickly her mood can change.  It's similar to the hormonal imbalance of an early teen or a pregnant woman.  One minute she's cool as a cucumber, singing "Chugga chugga choo-choo, Chugga chugga choo", and then next minute she's a thousand Chinese firecrackers.
Feeling these feelings is hard for me though, I often see-saw between feelings of guilt and frustration both at Teagan and myself.  Teagan and Kyra go to daycare eight hours out of the day, five days out of seven.  To say I want to stay at my internship or school is awful, and I know it, especially since I barely see my girls during the weekday and the weekends are always crazy.  Wishing anytime more time away from them is something I only briefly mean in the moment.  Once the tantrum ends we all, including Kyra Mae, welcome back the sunshine and rainbows and all is well in the playroom again.

Three is going to be difficult. Three, I fear, is going to be like nothing we have ever seen.  Three is going to be the hardest thing I have ever had to do, that Teagan has ever had to do.  But, it's these moments where I realize I am meant to be a parent.  On those moments I want to give up but don't I am reminded how strong God has made me, as a person but most of all as a mother.  In my life I have always initially had the flight response when faced with difficulty.  Self-sabatoge was the name of my game.  Marriage and babies have been the hardest thing I have ever done.  But we're doing this, Josh and I.  We're doing this together, Chinese firecrackers or rainbows.                

 

Soul Detox. #SheReadsTruth

I am playing catch up and started the next devotion on #SheReadsTruth. I missed yesterday so I did a twofer this morning.  This particular devotion focuses on "Soul Detox".  I am pretty excited about this.  The idea behind the devotion is to arm ourselves against toxic thoughts by replacing them with God's Truth.
So often thoughts go through our heads, mine most definitely included, that have the venom of a dozen vipers.  Not only quick to judgmental thoughts of others but of myself.  Not digging into God's Word puts us at such a disadvantage in these particular moments of negativity and sometimes hate.  If we aren't digging into God's Word then the toxic venom can become so damaging that the CDC wouldn't even come in and clean it up with their super duper powerful biohazard suits.  In those moments of quick and powerful negative thoughts it's helpful to have at least one or two verses or song lyrics or sayings that can instantly counteract the negativity.  For some, we've been "memorizing" scripture for as long as we can remember.  If you're anything like me, I MAY remember five of those verses that I learned just long enough at camp to get a gold star.  Those verses have come in handy a few times but it's time to stop being spiritually lazy and start learning new ones.  I am going to be 29 in a few weeks, it's time to get my act together.

One of my goals this year is to learn 12 verses.  That is ONE a month.  To be honest, I am learning them side by side with Teagan, and eventually Kyra as we are still working on the whole talking thing at 15 months.  The verses are simple, toddler simple, but effective....simple and effective enough to recall at a moments notice, just before the venom begins to bubble.

 

Lemon Blueberry Loaf recipe.

I found this recipe on Pinterest, tried it and the mix barely made it out of the bowl into the pan because I almost devoured it.
I'll put the original recipe below.  I baked the recipe the original way the first time I made it but this time I decided to try and make muffins.  And much to my surprise it worked!! I kept the temperature the same but decreased the time from 55 minutes to no more than 15 minutes.   I also did not use the syrup on the muffins but I used the icing.  It turned out great and was nowhere near as messy.

Original Recipe: 

LEMON BLUEBERRY BREAD

INGREDIENTS:

for the bread

1-1/2 cups + 1 tbsp all purpose flour, divided

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp lemon zest (from 2 lemons)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1-1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

for the lemon syrup

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup sugar

for the lemon glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

3-4 tbsp fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x5" loaf pan, dust with flour, and tap out excess.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla, and oil.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. In a separate bowl mix the blueberries with the 1 tbsp of flour and then gently fold them into the mixed batter.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake 50-55 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.

Let bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the loaf is cooling, combine the lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir continuously until sugar is dissolved, and then continue cooking for another 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Use a toothpick to poke holes in the tops and sides of the warm loaf and brush with the lemon syrup. Continue to brush the loaf until all of the syrup is added.

To make the lemon glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice and pour over the top of the loaf. Let the lemon glaze harden before serving.

Keeping it simple with just 5 things.

I love reading the Naptime Diaries blog.  Jessi is such an inspiration and I am always encouraged when I read an entry on her blog.  One of her most recent entries was about setting simple goals for the 2013 year, allowing the Lord to lead her and show her the big things, and being intentional with the small things.  I am following suit and I have come up with my own five things for the year of 2013.

1) Being intentional with my quiet time and dig, dig, dig into the word.  I wrote a post earlier about learning from the disciples mistakes in the garden of Gethsemane, about falling asleep and napping when God asks us to stay awake and be with him.  I am prayerful that the Holy Spirit will assist me with strength and discipline to really stick to this plan this year.

2) Being intentional with my husband.  Having two younger children has it's roller coaster sized ups and downs.  Life can blur the lines between Mommy and wife.  That happened more than I would like to admit in 2012.  My goal is to intentionally be a wife to my husband.  To pursue him, pray for him, be a wife to him, because he's already got a pretty awesome mom and he doesn't need another one.  Besides, he didn't marry me to be his mom.  

3) Being intentional with growing the girls in the Gospel.  We've already got a bible verse plan on the calendar for the girls and we will start having a devotion of sorts either in the bathtub or at the dinner table.  I will be held accountable for these sweet babies and I intend on not having to hang my head in shame when the Lord calls on me on judgement day.

4) Being intentional with my girlfriends.  I aim to hold them accountable.  I aim to write them letter, the real kind.  I am to call, not just text, to check in.  I am to increase the bond between my friends and I.  2012 was a little crazy trying to adjust with two, however, I can no longer and will no longer use that as an excuse.  What out friends, here I come!

5) Work on me.  What goes into my body.  Watching what I eat and watching what my family eats.    The exercise I want to do.  I am going to aim for at least 30 minutes a day.  It can be walking, running, yoga, etc.  I have not given a lot of thought to baby weight or before baby body over the last year, because honestly I haven't had time to think on such things.  I am feeling really good about my body and I can honestly say I feel the best I have every felt.  I just want to make sure I maintain that feeling.


So, what are five things you are going to do in 2013?  Read more?  Start a running routine?  Eating out less?  Eating in more?  Watching less TV? Taking a hot bath at least once a week?  I would love to know! And remember, these are supposed to be SMALL and ATTAINABLE goals.  We should never set ourselves up for defeat.

 

Learning from mistakes.

The New Year is here and I am most certain there are millions of people making resolutions.  I am pretty sure there are a lot of ladies, and men, out there who are promising to themselves and to the Lord that they will spend more time with Him.  That they will dig into the Word more.  That they will pray more. Serve more. Love more.  I am one of those people.  

I have been reading a book, Girl Meets God, for a few years.  It was a book I was really excited about and had good intentions to read in a day or twos time but it didn’t work out that way.  I recently picked it back up and I have been carrying it around with me picking it up when I can.  This is one book I have read with a pen in hand.  I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it but to be quite honest I was excited to read anything not quite school related for a while.  I am finally almost finished with the book and in the last few pages a passage stuck out at me that I felt the need to expound on.  It had New Year’s resolutions all over it. 
These are the words from page 229: “ My life is like a disciple’s nap in Gethsemane:  I have promised over and over, to be vigilant for the things of God, to be awake to Him, but I seem to spend much of my life sleeping”.

How often, not just in January, but the whole year through do we promise the Lord over and over that we will pursue Him more?  That we will dig into the Word more? That we will serve more? Love more? Pray more?  I know this has always been a struggle for me.  I will do a great job being faithful in my quiet time and my prayer time for two weeks and then I will hit a road bump, miss one day, and then take a proverbial nap. 

What is it going to take? For me, it’s going to take discipline.  I am going to just have to be more disciplined and more diligent in my time in the Word.  Accountability is another thing.  We are called to be accountable for each other, in our growing and in our walking.  I am going to have to be more accountable not only for myself but also my husband and my girlfriends.  One of the ways I am going to pursue my quiet time is by going along with the She Reads Truth (see the button on the right).  One series at a time.    

So, friends, what will you do this year?  How are you going to stick to it?  How are you going to keep yourself awake in your growth? How are you going to keep your resolutions this year?  365 days....let's get started!