Crockpot Monday

This is really "Crockpot Sunday" because today we're having meatloaf from the oven. But yesterday we used our crockpot for our Easter dinner, which was a lamb roast. I mean we can't very well eat ham while we celebrate Jesus, King of the Jews can we?

We have a local farm that has cows, hogs, and sweet, precious little lambs that we can eat.  Normally we get their meet in town but on Friday we drove out to the farm. It is so far out in the middle of nowhere that we crossed into a different time zone. My husband was nervous that we were lost but the drive was so pretty that I encouraged him to press on and put his faith in the fruit-branded electronic that he is always attached to. In the end we did not get lost and enjoyed seeing a different part of the place we live. Even after almost 3 years of "country living" we are still surprised at where we end up.

The girl that owns the farm is very sweet and I would call her our friend. She is one of those people that makes you feel right at home and speaks as if we have known her our whole lives. She's younger than us but has 2 small kids and another on the way. It's always nice to find another mommy to talk to.

When we got there, it had started to rain a little---that misty, sticky rain that is just not really a rain but maybe more of a wet fog. When she came out of her house in her rain boots and began to lead us out to the barn [although I wasn't sure where we were going at first] I quickly regretted wearing my ballet flats with no socks. Kathryn only had on one sock and no shoes as she always removes her socks in the car and I couldn't find them anywhere. So there we were, feeling more city and less country with each passing minute. I kept Kathryn's foot warm in my armpit and wondered just where in the heck we were going. Finally we arrived at a barn and were greeted by a friendly "coon hound". We walked through the barn stepping over piles of you-know-what and all the way in the back there was a restaurant sized deep freezer full of glorious organic, minimally processed meats.

A couple of years ago, there would have been no way that I would have walked into a barn in the middle of nowhere without at least imagining that I was probably going to be murdered and fed to the livestock. But the thought never crossed my mind this time.

As we were making our selections, this sweet girl who, in her third trimester of pregnancy, is hoisting trays of meat around as if they were light as a feather. We kept offering to help but she said she was used to it. We got lots of great meat [including the lamb roast we ate last night] and were given lots of information on when she is harvesting some hogs in a couple of weeks. We are thinking of having a whole lamb processed after we purchase a deep freezer.

While we waited on her to total up our purchase, we walked around near the house to see other farm animals. Yes, it was still raining but I did finally find Kathryn's shoes and socks and she did have on her coat. She was not interested in the horse, but he was a sweet horse who just wanted his nose rubbed. There were lots of other dogs, chickens, and we got to get really close to the lambs. Some day when it isn't so wet I'd love to let Kathryn lose in the lamb pen. The farmer said her kids play with them all the time. I think it would be good for Kathryn, as long as she doesn't try to ride them or poke their eyes like she does our dog. We even saw a lamb carcass that George the sheep herder had dragged up from a back pasture. Also, I am unclear if it is "lambs", "sheep", or both. I will let you know.

Just another day in the pursuit of real food. That's what's good about country living.

Tuesday Muse-day

1. We have been in a wind tunnel for about 2 weeks where I live. It has got. to. stop. Nap times have gone terrible awry and I'm starting to get cranky about it.

2. I'm turning 30 in less than 6 months. I'm not ready to be a 30-something. I'm pretty sure that means I should have my life together somewhat when really, I am a hot mess. I don't even try to hide it.

3. We've lived in our new house for almost 3 weeks. I still don't know where any of my clothes are. I need someone to come play with my child so I can unpack for goodness sake.

4. I took K to the new library today. She walked around and looked at big kid books like it was no big deal. I was just impressed by the Keurig. The old library was super crappy and, if I may be so bold, this new library is way nicer than any other facility in this town. Although, it's an awfully large space with not a lot of books.

Crockpot Monday: Short Ribs

Nothing makes me feel like more of a superhero than my trusty crockpot. I guess it's hip to say "slow cooker" but I'm from the old school so I'll probably say crockpot more often than not. Our weekends are much busier than our weeks, generally speaking, so Mondays are earmarked as "Recover from the Weekend" day for me. I don't schedule much and usually stay home all day except for running or my step aerobics class.

Mondays are for no-fuss crockpot meals. After almost 10 years of cooking for myself I have finally learned to use this amazing appliance on a regular basis from everything from desserts to simple soups. I plan to do a weekly installment of what I'm slow cooking each Monday.

Today, it's short ribs. When I send my husband into the grocery store alone, he will always follow the list but also always appear with a more expensive cut of meat than I would purchase. Don't get me wrong, I freaking love short ribs; I just don't buy them often. Maybe I secretly send him in the store just so that I can be surprised with his romantic gesture of meat. It's how we keep things hot around here. :)

I'm keeping it simple today: 2lbs of short ribs cooked with onions, carrots, and simple salt and pepper. I added about 3/4 cup of water because I never have beef broth on hand. I plan to serve it over my favorite cheese grits    and roasted brussel sprouts. We also have some leftover Irish soda bread from the weekend that we'll have with it. Pretty simple.

just plain mad

Sometimes I get so mad. I know I'm supposed to be nice and loving because I love Jesus but some things that make me mad are probably making Him mad, too. So here's a list of what's bothering me today.

1. People who constantly post online about their political thoughts. These people are generally mean and mock the other side of what they are promoting. I especially get angry when these people profess Christ and yet never seem to post a thing about that.

2. People who care more about what other people think than what God thinks. I know lots of people who genuinely believe the Bible but let themselves get all tangled up in rules and regulations. Why should we care more about the check writers in a church than starving orphans (for example)? P.S. I'm wearing a t-shirt that supports orphans on Easter Sunday, and you can take your fancy Easter dress and shove it. Forget the Frock! I mean wear a nice dress if you want to, really, but I think it would be great if we all supported this cause.

3. I think that's the end of my list. I think I'm in a funk today but I do feel justified in my frustrations. Sometimes people should just shut up, and maybe I'm one of them.

Shots and Doughnut Holes

Let's just pretend that it hasn't been like 3 months since I've posted anything.

Today was a fantastic day. After being sick for over a week and just plain old cabin fever after days and days of freezing temperatures, we were out of the house for most of the day. Kathryn had a well-check today. I knew it was going to be a great day when we were in and out of there in less than an hour. After the doctor I took Miss Priss to Chick-fil-A for some grilled nugs and ice cream, although I ate her ice cream because she was more interested in her apples. I guess that's a good thing. We came home for her nap and then zoomed out of the house again. With a high near 65 we just had to get outside. I took her to the local park where we walked beside the creek for a long time. Then we went over to our local university campus and walked around while eating dougnut holes from the new library coffee shop. Even though tomorrow is sure to be cold and rainy again, I think today refreshed our souls enough to make it til spring!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

The holidays are the one [and believe me the only] time I wish both of our entire families all lived in the same Currier & Ives town.  Trying to navigate the waters of who goes to whose house when and brings what food where and mom's gluten allergy and this person doesn't like meat and let's draw names and no I don't want a gift card and if someone buys us another ornament I'm going to scream.

I can't breathe.

I didn't grow up near family. We all had to either travel to another state or grandparents had to come to us. Cousin reunions didn't happen. I have a slew of cousins I've only seen twice. Kathryn has never met my brother, and only seen her aunt and cousin once. She's seen her great grandparents less than 5 times. She only sees my parents when they make the sacrifice to travel here when they have free time [usually my mom by herself--Dad has only seen K 3 times this year] because we don't have a vehicle for me to travel with to see them.

We "have" to stay home on Christmas Eve because we have a service at our church that we "have" to be at. We wouldn't want to miss it, though, because it is really, really cool. And so it works out perfectly that we get to wake up at our own house on Christmas day because we are already here. Then the next day we drive to NC to see my family. This year, hopefully, my brother and his family will get to come too so our little girls can play together.  They are only 3 months apart.

I am really excited to start decorating. It's hard not to jump the gun, but we've got spirit YES WE DO! We are seriously putting our lights up tomorrow because this is the token warm November weekend. We won't turn them on for a couple of weeks still, but at least they'll be up. My favorite part about the start to the season is choosing the ways we will give to others. We hope to live that way all year, but especially this time of year when so many folks are having a hard time. I would rather Kathryn have 2 presents and another kid have 2 presents than Kathryn have 4 presents and another kid have none. It is our goal as parents to teach Kathryn the gospel, and that starts with teaching her that she is not the point. It's not about any of us.

We are taking part in Operation Christmas Child as well as picking out some things from the Samaritan's Purse gift catalog to give to others a world away. I'm also excited to go shopping for our local crisis pregnancy center as they are in great need.

In the midst of all the excitement, travel, expense, and frustration...will you put others ahead of yourself this season? Forty percent of American spending happens between now and the end of the year. Let's do something good with our money.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween! Last year we brought her home from the hospital on Halloween...

 

...and this year we had a little Pocahontas!



We had a fun day. We made pumpkin shaped mini pumpkin pies to take to Daddy's office. Then we went to the dollar tree to spend some of her birthday money. She picked out pipe cleaners, foam shapes, and colored pom poms. ;) I used some of the foam to make her headband for her costume. Praise the Lamb, she took a looooong nap. I had to wake her up to eat dinner super fast so we could get to church for Eats & Treats. She had so much fun observing the festivities but it was stinkin' cold! We didn't stay long but when we got home she was in no hurry to take her costume off so she stayed in it for a while. A couple friends came by for cider and then we finally were able to get her bathed. She was hopped up on animal crackers & mommy's milk! I bet you didn't know Pocahontas wore a tutu. Kathryn loved her costume and didn't pull any part of it off. She did so good and we can't wait til next year!

 

 



Happy First Birthday!

Our little pumpkin had her first birthday on Sunday! What a difference a year makes.

I always heard people say that when you have kids time will really fly, and that is so true. This has been the fastest year of my life. Maybe it's because everything seemed to take forever when I was pregnant. I was going through photos from the last year [which are so NOT organized] for her birthday slideshow and I was looking at some from about 5 months ago thinking that it had just happened. I suspect that will happen a lot for the rest of my life.

 

We've learned a lot in the last year. I've learned that I'm the mommy and I know best, with daddy at a close second. No one else's opinions really matter. I've learned that sometimes you have to hurt other peoples' feelings to put your child first. When someone tells you to put a needle in your NIPPLE [of all places] to help the milk come out, they probably won't have any other helpful advice and you should not talk to them. I've learned the night goes a lot better when she sleeps with us. Most of all I've learned that I really don't know anything at all and the only thing that can sustain me is seeking the Lord's guidance in parenting.

 

The first few days that we had Kathryn home, I cried a lot. I was overcome with emotion, gratitude, and love. The weight of her tiny life just crushed me. Things are a lot easier now, though, and thankfully I don't cry as much.

 

Being a mom is the best thing ever. We've had hard times, sure. There were the dark days when she wouldn't take naps or sleep more than 5 or 6 hours at night [and certainly not without waking often]. There are the times, still, when she wakes e.v.e.r.y.h.o.u.r because her teeth hurt. The early days when she needed to eat every 20 minutes and I felt like a dairy cow. I didn't even wear a shirt, just my robe. But then there are the times she gives kisses, laughs, and helps me with the laundry that are so much fun. I wouldn't trade a second of this life for anything else.

 

So here's the stats:

According to my calculations, she's 18.6 lbs and 29 inches long.

 

She spent her eleventh month learning to walk. She's moved on to running.

 

She will eat anything, especially if it's on someone else's plate.

 

The dog is her best friend.

 

She has 4 teeth and more on the way. Remind me to buy more ibuprofen. For me, not her.

 

She is trying to use a sippy cup for water but can't quite figure it out. She's good with a cup, but still nurses 12-15 times a day. We love breastfeeding in this house.

 

Here are a couple pictures from her party.

Happy birthday, baby. Mommy and Daddy love you more.

 





Running for my life

Normal women with normal bodies gain weight when they're pregnant. Science says the "normal" weight gain range for my body was 15-20 pounds. Well, if you multiply that by 3 you'll end up with what I weighed almost exactly a year ago when I gave birth to my 6lb 14oz daughter. If you're keeping up with the math, adding in the weight of amniotic fluid, etc, I had about 40 pounds to lose. I lost 26 in the first 2 weeks but had pretty much stayed the same for much of the past year. Kathryn breastfeeds like a champ but unlike what I'd been told, the pounds did not just "melt away". Liars.

They say that it should take you about as long to lose the baby weight as it did for you to gain it. They also say that the safe range for weight loss while nursing [in order to keep your supply up] is about a pound a month.  I'm going with the latter because I'm nursing and it's important to me to continue that for hopefully another year.  I honestly am not worried about my diet because I eat whole, nutritious foods that I prepare myself most of the time and don't think I consume more calories that I should. Although, I probably do eat too many cookies.

About 3 months ago I decided too get more serious about exercise.  For several months prior, Kathryn and I had logged a lot of miles on her jogging stroller just walking. But it was time to step up my game. That's when I started running. I run 3 times per week and take an hour of really intense step aerobics 2 times per week. I'm not sure what spurred it on. One good reason is that I have an entire wardrobe of clothes that I haven't been able to wear since long before Kathryn came along.  I'm not sure what happened. I just got comfortable being a "little bit overweight".

I can't tell you how much weight I've lost because our scale is broken. But what I do know is that I can finally stop wearing my maternity jeans. My t-shirts are really loose. The buttons on my cardigans aren't screaming for dear life as they try to stay in the button holes. It's a great feeling. Yes, being sore, the good kind of sore, and physically worn out is a really great feeling.

I'm doing a program called "Run for God", which is similar to couch to 5K. In about a month I'm going to run a 5K. I can't believe I'm saying that because I was the person who always hated running. It seemed so boring and let's face it, it's hard. I thought only skinny girls with flat chests ran. Not a busty girl like me. I mean what in the world can I buy to hold these things back? [By the way, I'm still looking for a great sports bra.]

Not that I have already obained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus...I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 3: 12&14

I read those verses today--the whole passage actually--and thought a lot about my running. I don't know if I'm taking this out of context or not, but I think it applies. I was never perfect, and after childbirth that included a c-section, my tummy will never be the same, my breasts are going to be weird probably forever, and it will only get worse when I have baby #2. But I do believe that God calls us to take control of our bodies and in finding what works for me [running] I am achieving the goal of being all I can be for His glory. What good am I if I die before I can complete the calling in my life because of my laziness?

If you're reading this and you think you can't do it, think again. Don't listen to those voices in your head. You will achieve what you work for, not what you wish for or put off until tomorrow. If it's not absolutely the hardest thing you've done, you're not working hard enough.   Don't take the easy way out that will leave you in worse shape than before. Actually work for it.

One of the things that I've been afraid of since becoming a mom is that something would happen to me and cause Kathryn to have to grow up without her mommy. Maybe that's paranoid, but I feel better knowing that if something happened such as cancer I would be in the best shape to take it on. Ultimately my trust is in God but that doesn't mean that I can just sit on the couch. If you want to lose weight or improve yourself in some way, just do it.

It feels great. And you can be so proud of yourself.  I'll let you know how the 5K goes.

Kathryn's First Fall

Officially she was with us for part of last fall, but we didn't take her on any hayrides or let her sit on the porch with our pumpkins.  So here's some of our recent activities in photos. We've been enjoying our favorite time of year! I think it's her favorite, too.


Spending the day at Huber's Farm

 Her first hayride.

 Helping Daddy find the perfect pumpkin.

 He found it!

 She had to have her own tiny pumpkin.

 Ending the day at The Comfy Cow & trying her first ice cream. Pumpkin, of course!

Around the House 

 Above, she seems to be pondering somethig, perhaps "The Great Pumpkin"?

 Trying to pick up her big pumpkin at church.

 As you can see, she really likes to sit next to the pumpkins.

Around the Kirtley Home