Everyday Musings

Nothing too exciting has been happening down here in Arizona, but I am still enjoying every day with my family. Each milestone and age just keeps getting better, and for every moment when it gets tougher (tantrums, sleepless nights, mischievousness--nothing too big to complain about...) there are about a hundred little moments that are near perfect.



Isaac has been fully crawling for a little over a month now. For about 4 months he was content with army crawling everywhere. I thought he was fast then...it's nothing to how speedy he is on all fours. He is into everything that doesn't include his toys. The dishwasher (I swear he has a radar on that thing. The moment it opens up, he's right there), the outlets, pulling out cords, anything Aliyah is playing with, Sony's cat food, Sony, the bathroom, my car keys, my wallet...all places and things that I would prefer he stay away. Almost everything goes into his mouth immediately. I call to him and say, "Isaaaaaac, no." And what does he do? He looks back at me and flashes his signature grin. Stern mom protocol disengaged.







He's eating solid foods like a champ, as well as still taking in lots of formula. I thought his milk intake would taper off some after introducing more solid meals, but it hasn't at all. I stopped breastfeeding at 8 months. I was hoping to make it a year, but this kid eats like, well, a boy. That added with traveling a lot for work and his bad habit of biting me, I decided to throw in the towel. I would have liked to have gone longer, but I made it three months more than with Aliyah, and I will admit, not being tied down to nurse or pump is somewhat freeing.)

I'm finally starting to make some mom friends out here in Arizona. It only took me three years! In all seriousness, having some mom friends that I felt really comfortable with and wanted to hang out with is something I longed for, but I also know myself. I'm not overly social or extroverted with people I don't know well, so in the back of my mind, I just kept telling myself to be patient and friends will eventually come. The past few months, my neighbor two doors down who is single, but has a group of friends, many of whom are moms, has included me in their "card" night. (I put "card" in quotations because in the three times I've been invited, they have never played cards. One of the women's husbands told her they should change it to carb night for the lack of cards and abundance of snacks.) The first time I went, I enjoyed everyone immediately. Each time the get together was held at my neighbor's house I was invited. I think I might just be part of the group now since this last time it was held at someone else's house and I was still invited.

Just this past weekend, I met up with one of the mom's to get our girls together to play at a park for an hour. We ended up having a great time and the girls played well and even found some other girls to play with. The love of Frozen brought this group of random girls together and it was pretty cute. From what Aliyah was telling me, they were building a castle for Elsa and Anna.



I left Isaac home with Sebastian that morning and decided to spend the rest of the morning with just Aliyah. So rarely do I do that with her, and while I know it's important, I was really able to experience how much it made a difference. Not one tantrum the entire morning and she and I just enjoyed one another's company to the fullest. That day we went to the park, split some coffee shop breakfast, went to church, grabbed a jamba juice and then made our way back home. At the end of the morning, I realized I need to carve out some time every couple of weeks (or more as she gets older) and do this with her. I remember my Mom used to always make time for me, whether it was a lunch out, a movie, a little bit of shopping or the library. Those moments count. Like any young kid and teenager, I didn't appreciate it nearly as much as I should have at the time, but I do remember having fun during those outings and I am so grateful for those memories.

This past weekend hit about 98 degrees so Sebastian and Aliyah tried out the pool for the first time this season. Sebastian said it was a little cool still, but Aliyah could have cared less. She loved being in the water and even sang, "I'm a turtle! I'm a turtle! And I'm as happy as can be!"








Aliyah is at the age where anytime I tell her to smile, she immediately flashes some crazy face. Sigh. I often resort to bribery in order to get a normal smile out of her.





The weather has cooled down again this week to normal temps, so we're having some nice laid-back evenings in the backyard and enjoying the perfect Arizona weather for the moment.

A few last photos, which I'm sure Sebastian is thrilled that I'm posting. Three out of the four of us got sick with some weird stomach bug. (Aliyah has not gotten it...fingers crossed it stays that way.) We rarely get sick, which I am grateful for and this was a quick one, lasting about 24 hours for each of us, so I can't complain. It could be much worse.

When you're sick, Sony is sure to make you feel better by cuddling and licking you. Gotta love that cat. He knows all the right ways to make us love him even more.



That's about it for now. I would say it feels good to catch up, but who am I kidding? I have so many photos to blog I could write for days. For now, this will do.

Phoenix Dessert Botanical Gardens

Yikes, looking at these photos makes me realize that I haven't taken out my camera for quite some time. There are moments when not taking out the SLR is refreshing, but then I take time to actually look back on the photos I take with that camera and I am always glad I did. I guess it's finding that balance of capturing photos to remember for years to come, but also living in the present so you don't miss it while it's happening. A tricky balance to find that's for sure.

My parents came down for a visit in February. They have been here quite a few times and are getting to know the area quite well, but it's always fun to find something for them to do that they haven't done yet. This trip we decided to check out the Desert Botanical Gardens. I had never been there either, so it was a new experience for all of us.

Sebastian had to work this day, but Aliyah and Isaac joined me. The weather was perfect, probably touching about 75 degrees in February. Aliyah loved being outdoors and I spent quite a bit of time making sure she didn't bound into a cactus (It's happened before when she was two. She ran into it because she is wild. It was a tiny little one, but she still talks about the experience with much drama.) Endless amounts of energy that little girl has.

This was at the time when Isaac was not mobile yet. Little did I know that would change completely. My chill baby, has now turned into a crawling, determined boy. (That's a whole new post.)

The plants in this garden were obviously very different from that of the Midwest. A lot a cacti, and herbs, but all still so beautiful. It was a fun time and nice to be able to experience a new place in the valley with my parents.

100 Mile Month: Recap

Well, I made it to my goal of running 100 miles in one month. (I did not, however, manage to succeed at posting my progress or an interesting photo during my run each week.) Running 100 miles took quite a bit more planning than I anticipated. In the beginning of the month I estimated that needed to run about 5 miles, 5 times a week in order to stay on track. I figured with this mentality I could go on a few runs longer than 5 miles and a then have the opportunity to run a some that were shorter. What actually ended up happening was that most days I ran an average of 4 miles, and then as the month drew nearer to a close, I started realizing that I needed to up my game.

After Sebastian and I came back from our Grand Canyon trip, I sat down with a calendar and planned out the rest of the month for running. There were a few days in mid-month when I wasn't so sure I'd make my goal. The last week and half of the month, I was pretty much running every day, sometimes twice a day, trying to get as many miles in I could.  I also wanted to be able to run a nice, easy short distance on the last day to get to 100, so that it could be a fun run, rather than a daunting one. 

Some of my setbacks: Not running longer miles in the beginning, hiking an 8 mile, steep, Grand Canyon trail that left me sore for days (Days! My entire leg from my ankles to my quads were sore), and generally trying my hardest to not be bored (a lot of my runs were pretty slow as I was just trying to log in miles and not necessarily keep a fast pace.) 

Some achievements: Running 100 miles (a given, right?), really pushing myself with this goal and taking it seriously. Even when the future looked like a lot of work and even when there was the possibility of not making the goal, I still tried for it and gave it my all. I don't think I've worked so hard at an athletic goal since high school basketball. And overall feeling good after each run. 

Final thoughts: I'm not sure I'd do this again. I might, just because it was a good motivator for getting me out there, but it ate up a lot of my free time. If I'm looking to keep up a good monthly mileage without the pressure, I think I'd scale it back to 75 miles. Also, on most runs, I completely forgot to take a photo of something interesting, and when I did, I had to stop, take the photo and then start back up again. I tried taking a few while actually running, but those photos are pretty laughable. 

Overall, just glad I did it! Now on to the next goal....hmmmm?

And finally, some snapshots while out there. 

Farmland

Has anyone seen this trailer for the upcoming documentary, Farmland yet? I discovered it last fall and I immediately showed it to my Dad. I don't think he's ever been more interested in an online video. In a day when it seems like so much of the mainstream media has negative views (or perhaps just aren't knowledgeable) about farmers and what they think they do, it's incredibly refreshing to see a film that seems to portray how hard these men and women work everyday, and how most of them are doing it because they are passionate about their jobs. My dad has had some great success as a hog, corn and soybean farmer, but the amount of work he's put into the job every single day of the year for 50 plus years is something that I am still in awe of.

This film doesn't debut until spring, but I cannot wait to see it. I may just have to wait a bit longer though; if it ends up being as amazing as the trailer looks, seeing it with my Dad would be pretty special.

100 Mile Month: The Start

The Goal: 
Run 100 miles in a month

The Reason: 
I need something different and new to keep me motivated to run.

I've decided to try and run 100 miles during March, something I have never attempted to do before. Sebastian and I ran a half marathon in the middle January where we competed for time. My choice to run the same race, his choice to compete with one another. It ended up being a great way to push myself.

Fast forward to after the race up until the end of February and I had no motivation to get out there and be active. See the mileage for the month of February? Not even 8 miles. Yes, I needed a goal. 100 miles in 31 days. Daunting? Yes. Achievable. Possibly. (Yes...that answer should be yes.) Each week I am forcing myself to post a screenshot of my weekly mileage, along with a photo of something notable I've seen during one of my runs. If anything, it will get me out there and keep me active. One, two, three...go.

Custom 40th Anniversary Invitations

My parents recently celebrated their 40th anniversary. Wow! Their love and their relationship have always inspired me and have set some great guidelines for how to work hard and love unconditionally in a marriage.

My sister-in-law approached me a few months ago to see if we should throw a party for them since forty years is certainly something to celebrate. We both agreed that while a surprise party would have been fun, we had no idea who to invite since we knew my parents had no desire to have a large party. In the end we talked with them and decided to have a small, intimate gathering with just family and a few of the people who were part of their wedding party.

Right away in the planning process, my sister-in-law asked me about creating the invitations. I jumped at the chance to do so. I had a fun time looking at and incorporating my parents wedding colors and wedding photos, and I was more than pleased when both my Mom and Dad said they liked them very much.

The party was spectacular. It was fun to see my parents actually take a step into the spotlight and as a result everyone had the chance to hear some great stories about their engagement, wedding, honeymoon and being newlyweds in the Midwest countryside. By the end of the night, each guest had spoken about a memory they had of my mom and dad. It was pretty special. Congrats Mom and Dad! Thanks for showing us how to love!

A Girl, A Boy, and Their Dad

Not many things in life have been sweeter than watching Sebastian grow from friend to boyfriend to husband to dad. When Aliyah was born, it was amazing—and yes, surprising even—to see how Sebastian naturally fell into the role of being a caring father. To him, it was an important life challenge to accept and take seriously, but not without losing the sense of fun that he brings to everything he does.

When Aliyah was about two months old, he let me sleep in one weekend. He took it upon himself to dress her (most likely the first time he had fully dressed a baby), so he rummaged through her clothes and put her in a pair of orange shorts, a onsie with a tiger on it that said, “Wild Thing” and grabbed a safari hat off of a teddy bear nearby. When I woke up, they were both waiting for me, and I couldn’t help but shake my head and smile.




What I love most about how Sebastian goes about parenting is his honesty. He will be the first to tell you that in the first couple of months after both of our kids were born, he was at a loss at what to do with them after about twenty minutes, because as he says, "What else can you do with a newborn?". He’ll let you know that he thinks spit up is gross, or that his three year old daughter can be a difficult to handle at times. He’ll also let you know how incredibly in love he is with both of his kids, and that despite his awareness that he is bias, he still thinks they are hands down the coolest daughter and son around.  And our kids feel this. They both light up when Daddy comes home or when he talks directly to them. They both can be heard laughing because of some funny antic that only Sebastian can pull off.  And they both listen when Daddy disciplines them with love (well, maybe not Isaac just yet.)  As they grow I see that the bonds from father to daughter and father to son are only growing stronger.

A close second to what I love about Sebastian’s parenting is that he believes in me as a mother and he tells me this often. Not a day goes by where I don’t feel his support through either words or actions. In addition to being a manager and mentor in the professional world, as well as taking on hobbies with fervor (writing, golf and exercising to name a few), the amount of energy he puts into taking care of our children and being present in their life is incredible.

I know I’m not the only person out there who feels this way about their significant other, and I love to read or hear about others who appreciate their partners.  I’m not trying to brag or to show-off. (In fact, when I started this post, I thought it was going to be about Sebastian and Isaac’s relationship. Instead this turned out to be an act of gratitude for all Sebastian does as a husband and father.) Our family is lucky to have him. This one’s for you, Bastian. xoxo

Making Homemade Baby Food

Is there such a thing as delayed, post-partum nesting? Probably not, but I’m going to say I have that anyway. I’m not a huge fan of being pregnant. With both kiddos, I had lingering morning sickness that hung on for a while, and I grow really large babies it seems, so both times I felt extremely uncomfortable for most of the second half of the nine months because I get so huge so quickly. As much as I am very, very grateful that I have had the blessing of carrying two beautiful healthy babies (to the point where I feel bad about admitting that I don’t like pregnancy), I just don’t feel that glow that so many mothers talk of. Suffice it to say, the period before both Aliyah and Isaac arrived involved a lot of worrying and exhaustion, rather than craftiness and nesting.

When Aliyah first started solids, I tried making her food a few times. I can’t even remember why, but I gave up after I had initially tried and shortly after I bought baby food. In my mind I just assumed that making her baby food was more trouble than it was worth.

I’m not sure what it is with Isaac—perhaps it’s because he’s the second baby and a lot of my first-time mom anxiety has diminished. (Example: pacifier falls on the floor? Pick it up and pop it back in second kid’s mouth. With first kid…I would never dare. ) This time around I feel more comfortable in my skin as a mom, and as a result I’ve been able to have some fun doing things I put on the back burner for Aliyah. (Not to worry, she has had plenty of advantages over her little brother. It all evens out in the end. J)

Making my own baby food has been one of the adventures I’ve embarked on as a second-time mom. I wasn’t sure if it would end up like last time where I would give up shortly after, but I knew I wanted to try again. I researched like crazy, and everything I read made it seem quite simple. Then one weekend on a trip to Costco, I passed by an immersion blender on sale and decided that the homemade baby food stars had aligned and I needed to take this as a sign.

My tools for making my homemade baby food include:

• Reasonably priced blender. It doesn't need to be a heavy-duty, expensive one. You’ll be boiling or steaming most of the foods before-hand so they will easy to blend. (Here’s the one we have: CuisineartHB-155PC Smartstick) I like the immersion blender because it's really quick to rinse off after you puree a food, rather than having to clean out an entire machine. 
•  Ice Cube Trays: For separating and freezing 1 ounce portions of food to store. I bought some extremely inexpensive BPA-free ones from Target (99 cents each).  These thinner plastic ones make popping out the cubes a little tricky, so I would buy ones with slightly thicker plastic. I only have two, but when I make big batches of food I could use a few more trays in order to freeze everything all at once.
• Peeler: To peel off the skin on the veggies and fruits (though you can leave the skin on fruits if you want. They puree well into the final food, only leaving little specks of skin.)
• Spatula: Optional. For me, it makes it easier to spoon into the ice cube trays.

Making your homemade baby food is super easy. Here’s how:

1.  Peel veggies. You can also peel the fruit if you want. I did in the beginning, I don’t anymore for fruits.
2. Cut into small cubes. The smaller the cubes, the faster they will cook to the desired softness in order to puree.
3. Boil or steam for about 5-10 minutes or until soft (depending on the food. Pears cook quickly, sweet potatoes take longer.) Keep the water so you can add it to create your desired thickness when you blend. Also, steaming is known for retaining the most nutrients.
4. Put into blender or bowl for immersion blender and blend. Add water as you see fit.  Usually the less thick the better if they are young. (But you also don’t want it to be too watery so they can’t get the hang of eating.)
5. Use your spatula and separate into the ice cube trays. Cover with aluminum foil and stick into the freezer.
6. After cubes are frozen pop them out and separate into plastic bags. Label with food and date.
7. Thaw at room temperature or microwave and give to baby.  

Isaac has officially been eating pureed foods for about two months now. We started out with store-bought baby oatmeal in Georgia at Christmas time so Oma could get a chance to feed him his first solid food.  He took it well, but he seemed to think the spoon was a bottle or nipple and mostly just wanted to suck on it. The first couple of times at home that I tried feeding him baby oatmeal, he ate a bit, but didn’t seem too interested.

There are a few foods that require no blending at all. One day I had a ripe banana on the counter and decided to put it into a plastic bag and mash it up with my hands. I added a bit of breastmilk, mixed the two together in a bowl and gave it to Isaac. He loved it and ate it all up. I haven’t tried yet, but avocados are also supposed to be easy to just mash and give to baby.

I usually set aside a couple of hours every other weekend and make numerous batches of different types of food. So far we have made and been successful with sweet potatoes, broccoli, carrots, pears, apples, peaches and blueberry and peach mixed together. He’s been a great eater and my hope is that this will create a more diverse palate as he grows into a toddler and preschooler--or at least somewhat less picky than his pre-school, sister is. She is a fairly healthy eater, but her food likes are pretty limited. She’s a picky, (semi) healthy eater.  

There’s something I really enjoy about making Isaac’s food. I haven’t figured out why yet. It is slightly more reasonable, and we waste less because of the ability to size out the one ounce portions. To be perfectly honest, I don’t really think that making homemade baby food is all that healthier than buying store bought foods. According to my research, baby food is some of the purest food on the supermarket shelves, since it’s so simple. I do know that making his food gives me a sense of accomplishment. Perhaps it’s my inner farm-girl budding through. Being in a large metropolitan setting, I sometimes feel as though I am searching for a bit of the country. Maybe making Isaac’s food allows me to stay a little closer to my farming roots.

Kids Valentine Cards

Sometime early last week, I decided that I should try to be crafty and make Aliyah's valentine cards. Most likely she won't always want homemade cards to give out to her friends, so I might as well take the chance when she's young (and when there's only 10 kids in her class.)

It ended up being a really fun activity to do with her. I garnered inspiration from her horse obsession, sketched out a few ideas and then went to work creating two different versions of cards. I grabbed the horse and horse shoe graphics off of the web, and created everything else in Adobe Illustrator.

At first I thought I would have her color in the images for her classmates as sort of a personal touch, but when I thought about it, I imagined her getting tired of coloring the same image repeatedly. Instead, I added in her name in caps with a hand-written font so she could trace her name on each card. (At the time she didn't know how to write her name. On Friday--Valentine's Day--she came home with some papers she had completed at daycare and her name was written on them. I didn't notice them until Saturday since I had missed out on Valentine's Day with the family since I was up in California for work. I saw the papers on Sebastian's desk and asked her who wrote them and she said she did. I think I yelped with excitement. I had no idea I would be so excited and proud of her for learning to write her name, but I really was. Such a neat experience as a parent.)

We stuck two sheets of stickers in each envelope for each of her classmates, and a Starbucks giftcard for a couple of her teachers. Aliyah was very particular about the entire thing. She wanted to make sure that Daddy remembered everything on Friday, and as hard as I tried to not bring candy, she was set on bringing mini-cupcakes for her class as a treat. Sebastian, as I've said many times before, is an amazing dad, but since he doesn't drop the kids off on a regular basis (he usually does pick-up), he sometimes forgets what to bring. I wrote out a list for him just before I left, and I think it helped because everything that needed to go to daycare made it!

Afterwards, when I got back from California, I asked her about how it all went. It was pretty fun listening to her talk about the party they had, how they passed out cards and just the overall excitement of it. It's fun to get a new perspective on holidays--even the little ones. Makes those days all the more sweeter.

Little Moments

A smorgasbord of what has been lingering on my camera for the past couple of weeks. When I look at these photos I smile. My next goal is to step it up this year and finally get photos printed. I'm glad they are at least on my blog, but there is still something to holding a photograph in your hand or flipping through the pages of an album. When I was young, some nights I would sit in the room with all of our photo albums and look through them for hours. My mom was so good at printing photos all throughout our youth and she has even gifted me with photo albums of my younger years, which I cherish. I want to make sure that I do the same for Aliyah and Isaac.





This little guy amazes me with his coordination skills. He is a determined baby and will army crawl to get where and what he wants. It's neat to see how much patience he has when trying to grab something. Rarely does he get frustrated. Clearly, it's too early to tell, but I hope this is a characteristic he keeps.

Aliyah's Godmother recently sent her a bunch of ribbons that she used to use in her hair when she was in high school, and I think that may have played a part in Aliyah finally allowing me to actually style her hair in more ways than one. (Also note the yogurt mustache that she is sporting here--a common occurrence after breakfast each morning.)



I really enjoy fresh flowers in the house. For awhile I would buy the five dollar clearance flowers at our local grocery store each week, but stopped. I remembered to grab some last week when my parents were in town, since I know my Mom also loves seeing fresh flowers. I think I'll keep on buying some every one or two weeks. It's a sure way to add a little extra punch of happiness.




I've been wanting to get Aliyah a playhouse for the backyard for some time now. We found the perfect wooden one at Costco a few weeks back, but since there was no "occasion" (ie: birthday or Christmas) and we don't buy Aliyah large gifts on a whim, we decided now was a good time to introduce Aliyah to the art of "earning it." Her goal is 30 coins and we try not to "make" her do things too often, but rather try to catch her doing things. The cutest part of it all? Every time she earns a coin she has to dump them all out, sort them by size and count them to make sure the number of coins matches up to the amount on the jar outside that she's colored in.

Aliyah invited her first friend to come over to our house for a few hours. It was a success and incredibly cute to watch and hear two, three-year old girls giggle and run around. At one point Isaac was taking a long nap, the girls were happily playing and the mid-afternoon weather was beautiful so Sebastian and I grabbed Scrabble and a glass of wine and enjoyed the moment.