9 Month Update!

Little booger is 9 months!

Holy cow, each month seems to go faster. Here's the headlines on this past month:

Favorite Food: She really loves all types of food these days. She is appearing to like solids more and more and for those of you that know Noelle well...you will know about the "boob laugh" (the little giggle she would do right before nursing). Well know she does a similar little laugh while I get her solids ready sometimes!

Favorite Toy: any bins/baskets with something in it. She has enjoyed unloading clothing alot this month


New Tricks: eating (and loving) snacks! We have started snacking, and this kid is hilarious and fabulous at eating them. I love how she chews with her tongue!

Milestones: CRAWLING! There was the obvious post I had about the crawling commencing, but this kid has improved daily. She also loves to pull up on everything. This was exciting but became less exciting when she learned how to sit up and stand up in her crib. Sleeping was tricky this month.

Surprises: I feel like a broken record, but STILL no teeth! She is taking after her aunt Meagan, which we hope means she will have gorgeous teeth just like her :)

Noises: Tons of dadada, bababa, yayaya...but no matter how hard I try, no "mm" sound at all. Dang her. Love her, but dang her.

I'm super excited for this next month!! There are some folks out there who believe that this will be the month that she walks. I'm not so sure, but it would be super fun if she was taking some steps right before Easter so that she could actively participate in an Easter egg hunt. But don't worry - if she begins to walk you'll hear all about it in a blog post!!

Picture Friday: Valentine Cutie - a week late :)

We had a photo session on Valentines day...and well, better late than never on the photos!!  She really would not stop moving, so photos when it is just the two of us is becoming more and more tricky. Lots of them are close up because she was climbing all over my lap. She is too much fun!!

Those eyes...sigh.

What are you doing?

Slightly blurry, but so happy!

Teething face...

The Treasure of Unity

Unity: being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole; unification.

Sometimes I forget just how rare unity can be. We don't see it very much in the world around us. Everyone is out for themselves, looking out for "#1" before looking out for the good of the whole.  Heck, we even see it in little ways...don't we all customize the heck out of our iPhone cases, computer covers, twitter pages, and so on and so forth. Always trying to be different, always trying to express our individuality.

I have the privilege of going to a church where I see unity. Unity on teams, between teams, in lifegroups, on the staff, among families and even broader - across churches.  Some days I am reminded of how uniquely rare it is. I'm in a little spurt where I am feeling the rarity of unity...hence the blog about it!

I'm really thankful that I know and have seen real unity. The only down side is it makes disunity all that much more glaring. It feels hard and gross and mostly it just feels stupid. Seriously, STUPID. When there is disunity, no one gains anything. Both sides hurt, both sides suffer the consequences, and it seems like everyone loses. Everyone's life becomes more difficult.

Jesus prayed for us in John 17:23b, "May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me."

Unity is what we were made to live in. Especially as the Church. Perfect unity will be in heaven - can you imagine? We will be one with Jesus, one with God, one with the Holy Spirit, and in perfect peace with everyone in heaven!!

If you haven't gotten to see a form a unity where you are, I want to paint you a picture of it that hopefully you will be able to relate to:

Imagine being at a concert. Most of us have been to one of those, right? But not just any concert, a really good concert, where everyone is psyched to be there and everyone is such a big fan of the band that they all know the words. And when the lead singer goes to sing the chorus of their most famous song, he takes the microphone and points it to the crowd, and what happens? The crowd in one huge voice  finishes the chorus together. If you have never been a part of something like that where the crowd is really huge, well then I am sorry, because frankly it is really really fun. 

I like to imagine that we'll have lots of times like that in heaven - except it will be WAY cooler and WAY more fun because we will be worshiping in PERFECT unity the ONLY one who deserves to be worshiped like that.  

Revelation 7:9-10 - After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”

I hope this spurs you on to either more greatly appreciate the unity you have in your life or go make some unity happen in your life. Unity only happens when you aim for it, and its worth working for.

 

Picture Friday: Baby Model

This kid...let me just tell you...this kid is impossible not to go crazy over.  You want to eat her and snuggle her all at the same time! Then you want to scream from the sheer cuteness because it is more than one human being can physically handle.

If Old Navy, Gap, Gymboree, Children's Place, Carter's or any other children's clothing brand knew what was good for them they would hire my child to wear their clothing. I promise you they would sell more!!

And in case you were wondering, this little number came from the Gap (thanks Grandma/Mom!)  

Cheater meals - Easy Enchiladas

I love to cook, but I don't cook daily.

Josh and I have unique schedules, and since there are really only 2 mouths to feed at this point I would be way overcooking if I made dinner every night.

So basically, I will cook 2-3 times a week and then we eat off of the leftovers for the other half of the week. I love leftovers. (Sorry mom for all the complaining I did when it was leftover night growing up...I FULLY appreciate them now!)


Some weeks I put more time into cooking and make some really nice stuff. Other weeks I am feeling lazy and I make what I like to call "cheater meals." It's not like a frozen pizza or anything, but it doesn't take too much effort.

An example is Cincinnati style chili...basically it is ground meat and a Cincinnati style chili seasoning packet from the grocery store and then you cook that up and serve it over some pasta and voila - lots of food for minimal effort.  I have made it from scratch before, but it tasted the same as the packet. That isn't very motivating for me to make it from scratch very often!!

Another example is easy chicken enchiladas. I cannot take credit for this one - I credit Rachel Mahoney entirely. She may not do it the same way as me - but she told me about it! They are super easy, super quick, super cheap, and taste really good! The plus side is you can make all kinds of variations depending on what extra stuff you have on hand.

Here's what you need:
Soft tortillas (any kind you like)
Refried beans (again, whatever you prefer)
Chicken (canned or leftovers from another meal work great)
Shredded cheese
2 cans of red enchilada sauce

Get your 9x13" baking dish ready with some pam and then get to work! Take a tortilla, smother it with some refried beans, put some chicken in there, sprinkle with cheese and roll that bad boy up! Then put it in the dish and keep on making those things until your dish is full or you run out of your ingredients. Then pour the sauce over the whole dish (I sprinkle a little extra cheese on top too) and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes until it all looks nice and hot.

Serve it up with some Spanish rice and a salad and you are good to go!!  I like to make some variations on occasion and add in different stuff I might have on hand, like salsa, diced tomatoes, corn, or anything that inspires me and I need to use up!

So next time you need a "cheater meal" night, give the easy enchiladas a try!!

Picture Friday: I'm gonna eat you...

This is a glimpse of how Noelle plays with her dolls and stuffed animals:

"Hey look, it's my doll!"

"I love her. I love her sooo much that..."

"I'm gonna EAT her!!!!!!"

We like to pretend that she is giving her doll kisses like we give her kisses. The truth is she will do this to your face too if you let her. And though the slobber is not enjoyable, it is also one of the best things ever!!  I'm pretty sure she is just affectionate and we don't need to be concerned about any cannibalistic tendencies that might be developing...

It ain't easy being green!

It turns out that for the past 13 years, pantone has released a "color of the year".  Did you know that? I didn't know that. Basically, they talk to designers (fashion and home) and figure out what colors they are using most, what people are being drawn to (that elite group on the cutting edge) and then they pick the color for the year.

Now looking back on what those colors have been in past years, I can't say I remember being overly affected or influenced by any of them. (here's the link to the list - http://pantone.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Color_of_the_Year)

But this year...THIS YEAR...the color of the year is - EMERALD. Yes ladies and gents...emerald. Love it.

So what does emerald mean exactly? According to Pantone's website they chose emerald for the following reasons:

"Emerald, a vivid, verdant green, enhances our sense of well-being further by inspiring insight, as well as promoting balance and harmony. Most often associated with brilliant, precious gemstones, the perception of Emerald is sophisticated and luxurious. Since antiquity, this luminous, magnificent hue has been the color of beauty and new life in many cultures and religions. It’s also the color of growth, renewal and prosperity – no other color conveys regeneration more than green. For centuries, many countries have chosen green to represent healing and unity."

So it seems like Pantone is trying to promote a year of healing and growth...good idea I guess. But we all know that declaring a color over the year means nothing. At least I hope you know that!


Now here are the two reasons I am excited about it being the color of the year:

• Green is my favorite color - and I especially love emerald green
• Emerald is Noelle's birthstone (and I love her and anything associated with her)

Green has been my fav color since around the age of 14. So we've had 15 (ahem, almost 16) glorious years together. As far as I know, I have only had 3 favorite colors in my life (mom, feel free to correct me.) Those being: pink, yellow, and finally green.  

I always had an appreciation for green...I can recall that it was one of my favorite colors in the crayon box (seafoam to be exact), but my true love of green came when I discovered that my eyes are green and that when I wear green, they really pop. It was probably one of the first things I really loved and appreciated about my appearance.  They especially pop when wearing emerald. So I hope lots of new clothes come out with this color - and luckily I already have some because I love it so much! In fact, just last month my sweet Mama bought me a lovely new pair of emerald green jean leggings!

I also wore a bright green t-shirt for our maternity photos because I love it and I was really convinced it would definitely be Noelle's birthstone. Enjoy a look back from almost a year ago (these were taken last March):

Probably a silly disappointment I have with green is that it is NOT the color Noelle looks best in. A stupid thing to be disappointed by, but true nonetheless. There are some greens she looks good in - but dang the girl looks amazing in red and purple and blue (see the red below)...but not so much green. I guess somewhere in my heart I thought we would both look amazing in green together, but alas - I will look amazing in green alone.

So cheers to an emerald green year everyone - I challenge you to add a little green to your life...specifically EMERALD!

snow, Snow, SNOW!!!

Noelle and I decided to take advantage of this snowy weekend. We spent some time with Rachel & Meaghan and captured what I will consider Noelle first "real" snow day. Complete with snowman, attempted snow angel, and snowball fight :)

What is all this snow business?

Meaghan seems to like it...

Noelle firmly refused to make any snow angels.

But does it taste good?

No. No it does not.

I think I'm getting cold Mama...

But a snowball fight might be fun... 

No babies were snowballed in the course of this picture. But Meaghan was!

Cap it all off with a snowman!!