November

We have had a nice November. It has been quite crazy, but a time surrounded by family and friends which is always great! We traveled to Iowa to celebrate my parents 35th wedding anniversary. We had a nice dinner with just the immediate family. It was so nice to all be together. We talked about how they met and their wedding. My dad proposed after his first date with my mom!

Here is a picture of my parents that was actually taken at our wedding, but I thought it was a nice one. It is actually their anniversary today, so Happy Anniversary mom & dad!


Here is a cousin picture (minus Olivia, Aubrey, and Logan) - these are so hard to take these days!



...and a picture of all of Landon's Iowa friends (which was hard to take too!)


Olivia turned 3 months. She's always sticking out her tongue like a little lizard...





We also had a Thanksgiving Party for the neighborhood and Sunday school kids. We had a great time. I pray that the Lord will grow the little seeds of the gospel that were planted and that these little ones might be saved at young ages.




Then, we celebrated Thanksgiving down here. The Bloom family made it down as well as Brian, Rachelle and Wesley. We had a great time together and ate lots of yummy food and had a couple shopping trips with the girls. My sister, Heidi, and her family stopped through on their way to Dallas and on their way back. We are so thankful to have such wonderful families on both sides. The Lord has truly blessed us.

Here is my menu for the week:

M: Chicken Lasagna (didn't get to this last week)
T: Lime Chicken Soft Tacos (...and I didn't get to this) with chips and salsa
W: Ham & Potato Casserole
R: Asian Peanut Wraps with fried rice
F: Homemade Pizza
S: Chicken Noodle Soup with bread
S: Baked Spaghetti with Italian Cheese Wedges

Samuel's Birthday Recap...

It's been a little over a month, but I meant to recap Samuel's birthday. So, here it is a month later...

We had a really nice day as a family celebrating Samuel's birthday. We went to the cemetery and found 4 balloons at Samuel's marker. That was a sweet surprise. Then, we went out to eat at Steak n' Shake and talked about what life might have looked like if Samuel were here. Landon had helped me make a cake, so later that night we sang "Happy Birthday" to Samuel.

I have thought of making a cake in the past, but never felt up to it. I just never felt like celebrating. This year, I decided to make one and that we would do a little party. It was really nice. I think it was good for Landon to start to understand who his big brother is and show him that he will always be a part of our family.

A couple days after Samuel's birthday, I helped with a ceremony called, "A Walk to Remember." It is basically a time for people to get together and remember the babies that they have lost. It was the most beautiful day, and we had such a sweet time remembering our little Samuel.

I made a little movie of Samuel's birthday this year and the clips and pictures at the end are a part of that ceremony...

2 Week Menu

Breakfasts:
Mocha Frappuccino with Waffles
Baked Oatmeal
Cold Cereal
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with caramel
Fruit Smoothies

Dinners:
T: Beef Tacos
W: Vegetable Calzones
R: Taco Grande Pizza
F: Chili with Cornbread
S: Cilantro Chicken over rice Iced Pumpkin Cookies for dessert
S: Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches with homemade buns

M: Chicken and Apple Curry over rice
T: Vegetarian Penne with Italian Cheese wedges
W: Chicken Lasagna
R: Thanksgiving! (still need to decide what I'm making...)
F: Ham & Cheese Sliders
S: Homemade Pizza
S: Lime Chicken soft tacos

Marriage Seminar Recap & weekly menu

We had a great weekend at the annual young couples marriage seminar in Topeka. Steve Price spoke on several areas in marriage that were good to be reminded of.

Here are a few things that stuck with me:

Brake easily - Be quick to admit you are wrong to your spouse. Don't look at their wrong and dwell on it, but treat your sin as the only sin in the room and confess it to the Lord and your spouse. Don't hang onto your pride, but brake easily.

Spiritual Gifts - Find out your spouse's spiritual gifts and look for ways to allow him/her to cultivate and use them, don't hinder this process through your own selfishness.

Marriage Design - The man needs to feel respected and the woman needs to feel loved - this is the best way to create peace in the home. I've heard this a million times, but it's always good to be reminded to be conscious to show respect and appreciation to your spouse.

Others are watching - Your kids and others that you interact with are watching how you treat each other. Work to have a marriage that honors the Lord and gives the picture of marriage that God intends that of Christ and the church.

It was so good to be reminded of these things. All the messages will be up on the Topeka Gospel Chapel's website in a couple weeks. I would highly recommend listening to them.

Here is my menu for the week. I had fun browsing through different recipe blogs and am excited to try some new recipes! It's a short week, because we plan to visit my family next weekend. We are going to celebrate my parent's 35th wedding anniversary! It should be a really nice time together.

M: Minestrone Soup with garlic cheese bread
T: Broccoli Rice Casserole with a salad
W: Easy Fiesta Chicken with cilantro lime rice
R: Chicken Divan over rice

Oh, and these pumpkin caramel cinnamon rolls look amazing... I don't think anything would smell better that these baking in the oven.. MMmmaybe I'll get to these this week :)

Olivia update

Olivia Ruth is doing very well. She is growing like crazy. She had her 2 month appointment (at 2 and 1/2 months) and she was 12lb 12oz (90%) and 24 3/4 inches long (95%)!

Here are a few things that our little girl is up to:
She is wearing 3-6 months clothes and had grown out of some really cute outfits - that is always so sad to me!

She has rolled over in her crib a couple of times (from tummy to back).

She is starting to almost laugh. She smiles really big and then lets out the little coo.

She is practicing her voice cooing a lot. I love having "conversations" with her.

She still hates her car seat (she has hated it since the day we took her home from the hospital). She is very stubborn and will cry for a looong time before falling asleep in her car seat.

She likes us to lay her down in her crib when she's tired.

She just fights sleep harder when we try to rock her to sleep.

She's a really light sleeper. Landon sleeps hard - I could vacuum and do the dishes while he slept, but with her we have to be really quiet.

We are so thankful for this little girl, she brings us such joy.

She loves the swing, bouncy seat, and bumbo - I just rotate between the three.


She loves to play with her hands like this, I think it's so sweet.


Landon is such a sweet brother, he is always giving his sister kisses and holding her hand when she cries.


I guess I better start buckling her in!