1st Birthday Celebration

It's hard for me to believe that it's been a year since my baby Cai was born. I don't have words to express the awe I feel watching this beautiful boy grow. And I know that time will only continue to slip by quicker than I can comprehend. Cause clearly a year just past by without my permission. My tiny newborn is no longer tiny, while at the same time just as little and precious in my eyes. I guess that is part of the wonder of the first birthday. They grow so much within they're first year, all the while still staying a little baby fully dependent on us. But all too soon, he will be learning to walk and pushing his independence more and more. And while I long to keep him wrapped up in my arms, I know my little adventure seeker will demand his independence to the fullest as he learns to navigate further and further from my embrace. So we head straight into the world of walking, running, talking and exploring. I'm sure this next year of his life will bring lots of adventures.


For more fun pictures and videos of the first b-day cake and opening presents check out our Picasa Albums.

Menu Plan Monday- Aug 10th

So last week was a horrible experience. We all came down with some kind of stomach bug, with me having it the worse. It was bad enough that I was sick, but then it took days for me to function on a somewhat normal level. Oh the joys of being sick while pregnant. I still feel like my energy is lacking. So as you might guess, last weeks meals were scraped for canned chicken noodle soup and applesauce (or similar such foods). Sunday, despite being very busy, was a good day and we all seemed to enjoy gathering with family. I'll post later on the birthday celebration at my mothers house. We have lots of great first cake pics of Cai from Sunday (we were all too sick to celebrate on his birthday). This week looks to be starting off to a good start. And lucky for me I'm not really going to have to cook all that much. Yesterday we celebrated the boys birthdays again by inviting our friends M and C over for dinner. It was wonderful. And I finally cooked the lasagna rolls I've been wanting to make for weeks. Although my noodles ended up breaking, leaving me with only enough whole noodles to do the vegetarian ones in rolls. The other I just layered and baked. We had green beans, salad and peach crisp for dessert. It was a good night. :) So the rest of the week as followed.

Tuesday: Pizza at friend H's house.
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday:Eat out
Friday: Pizza Braid
Saturday: Breakfast dinner
Sunday: Hamburgers and hotdogs at the park to celebrate Ian's b-day with his friends- Digger cake and homemade ice cream
Be sure to check out Organizing Junkie's website for more menus. And have a great week.

Today's number of the day: The number 2

The number 2 seems to be a permeate our house. We live in a 2 bedroom house at 222. We have 2 young boys, and because of this many of our toys come in twos. 2 firetrucks, 2 diggers, 2 green swings, 2 toy pianos, 2 coin banks, etc. We often have 2 computers running in the evening, as Mark works on the desktop and I work on my laptop. Ian is currently 2 years old.
I'm slowly realizing that the quickly our life is going to change. Soon the number 2 will lose some of it's significance in our lives as the number 3 take over. First Ian will turn 3 years old on the 10th (in just 6 day!). Somehow this feels very important. For one it means he is going to be starting preschool. AHHHH!!! When did my baby get old enough to start school? But turning 3 also means he is no longer a toddlers, no longer a baby. Can someone tell me how to slow down time? Really, my babies are getting too big too fast. Second we will soon be adding another boy to the family. That's right, for those out of the loop, I'm due the beginning of November. And we'll be having another baby boy! Truth be told I'm freaking out a bit. Three boys is going to be a handful. And than you take into account that Cai will barely be 15mo (if even) when the new baby arrives, it just scary. But I know that it will work out. Things are changing around our house. And while I keep hoping I'll find time (and energy) to post more regularly, when I'm honest with myself I know that it just might not happen. Cause thing around here are not going to slow down anytime soon, if ever. And right now I'm just trying to figure out how to adjust to the ever changing thing that is our lives. :) Wish us luck. Number 3 is coming and in so many different ways!

Menu Plan Monday (Aug 3rd)

So I'm slow getting up my menu this week because, to be honest, I haven't wanted to eat anything other than soup and applesauce for the last day and half. I've been fighting nausea and even the thought of food has caused my stomach to do flips. :( While I still stuck to light soup tonight, I thought I better think about the rest of the weeks dinner plans. That way, assuming I'm feeling better in the morning, I can go grocery shopping tomorrow without having to first think of what on earth I'm going to cook all week. This last week was up and down. I was feeling off all week, but we made it through so all is well. And while not every day was kept to the plan, what was made worked out really nicely. Monday's lasagna rolls were changed into spaghetti because, brilliant me, forgot to make sure I had lasagna noodles before going shopping. I just assumed I still had some, but no. So that is going to be made this week. Mostly because I was really looking forward to them :). The stuffed bell peppers were defiantly wonderful. I used yellow peppers, instead of the green ones called for in the recipe. And while they didn't look nearly as pretty b/c the filling had a yellow/orangish tint, they tasted wonderful!! I'm hoping once I'm feeling better this week will go much better. Both in terms of cooking what I have planned and in terms of the actual week. Thursday Cai turns one so it's a big week! I can hardly believe my baby is going to be one. When did that happen. And Ian will turn three in a week!!!!! Where did the last year go? Well because of birthdays, celebrations are defiantly part of the plan this week. My mom's siblings will be here this weekend, so we are going to celebrate on Sunday! It should all be fun. Ok so here is this week's menu.

Monday: The boys ate frozen pizza while I ate egg drop soup.
Tuesday: Black Bean, Zucchini and Tomato Quesadillas
Wednesday: Potluck in the park: Pizza Braid
Thursday: Lasagna rolls with green beans- Chocolate Birthday Cake for dessert! (every one year old needs their first chocolate cake on the b-day)
Friday: Summer Ratatouille
Saturday: Leftovers (I have church conference all day and will only be home long enough to eat dinner before going back for evening worship)
Sunday: Birthday Celebrations at my mothers- Wishing Happy Birthday to Cai, Ian, and Great Grandma Letah

Hope everyone has a great week. And don't forget to visit The Happy Housewife for more menus (Organizing Junkie is gone this week and The Happy Housewife is happily hosting in her place)

Menu Plan Monday (July 27th)

Well once again another week has slipped past and I only finished half of what I wanted to. This week is another chance. Right? Meals last week went well. We ended up eating leftovers Thursday rather than Quiche. And Friday we went downtown and had chicken fajitas at our local whole foods shop. It was well worth it. the fajitas were great. And it was nice to spend time out of the house, even if it was a very hot evening. The other fun thing that happened this weekend is that Mark and I went on a double date with some friends to see the new Harry Potter movie. It was great; the movie and the date :). After as we talked over the movie, we all agreed that we wished more of the memories of Voldemort were showed. Mark even said he thought it should be split into two movies to get all the information across. But all in all, I really thought it was excellent. Ok so now on to this weeks menu plan. Check it out. And don't forget to visit Organizing Junkie for more menus and idea!

Monday: Lasagna rolls and green beans, maybe garlic bread?
Tuesday: Asian Veggie Stir-Fry with chicken
Wednesday: potluck in the park- Taco Casserole
Thursday: Couscous- Stuffed Peppers
Friday: Summer Ratatouille
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Leftovers or Breakfast dinner

Menu Plan Monday (July 20th) and short update

So I've been feeling bad for being so absent with blogging. To be perfectly honest, I have been reading on another site and blogging just hasn't seemed important enough to drag my attention away. But I'm feeling the need to step back and dive back into blogging as much as I'm capable. Life is still crazy around here. I've not been feeling my normal self: tired and such. Nothing serious, but the constant low blood sugar I've been battling is even more exhausting than the exhaustion from the low blood sugar itself. :( This makes things interesting when trying to chase two boys around the house. Bible school last week was a welcome break. As Ian was gone Monday - Thursday morning from 9 am to noon. He seemed to really like. He won't always tell me much when he got home, but the next morning he was always excited and ready to go long before it was time. My friend S had volunteered to take him and I picked him up. It worked out great. S's son E is Ian's age and she said it was a nice transition for E to have Ian with him when they walked in. Being their first year at Bible school it was also nice that it was at our church this year. We cohost bible school with another church in town and it trades every year who's church building is used. So being at our church meant the boys got to be in their Sunday School room. Which I think helped too. Mostly I just hope the excitement Ian expressed will transfer to preschool when he starts in Sept. Ok so I've rambled enough for this post. Here is the plan for meals this week. After a week of not planning I truly realize how much I rely on planning out my week in terms of meals. It makes dinner time go so much smoother. Be sure to check out Organizing Junkie too. She always has great meals and the other links are wonderful for recipes and ideas. :)

Monday: Spaghetti with Sausage, side green beans
Tuesday: Asparagus "Pesto" with grilled chicken breasts (I have some "pesto" in my freezer making this a very simple meal!)
Wednesday: Church Potluck in the park- potato salad
Thursday: Zucchini Quiche
Friday: Pizza Braid
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Breakfast Dinner

Wishing you all a Great Monday!!

Menu Plan Monday- July 6th

Well I'm back. We actually got back from Goshen on Sunday, June 28th. This last week was crazy catch up. Mark was home both Monday and Friday which was really nice, since the boys have been having some trouble adjusting to being home. Going from an adult-kid ratio of about 3:1 to 1:2 has been a big adjustment. Especially for Ian. He has had to relearn that sometimes Mommy just can't watch everything he wants to show me at the exact moment he asks. I'm hoping this week will be better and we can settle back into our routine. Well more on our vaction later. I promise to post some things from our trip, hopefully even in the next day or two. Here is this weeks menu. And don't forget to check out the Organizing Junkie for more idea.

Monday: Black Bean, Zucchini and Tomato Quesadillas
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Church Potluck in the Park- bring potato salad
Thrusday: Salad Potluck in the park with Small Group-bring Sesame Chicken Couscous Salad
Friday:Zucchini Garden Chowder
Saturday: Leftovers or Simple Supper
Sunday: Chruch potluck- bring a salad