having a 2 year old is hard.

Amen.


Life has been one word lately:
exhausting.

having 2 children, now THAT will be wild.

I'm literally too tired to talk about what's been up lately, but here are some pictures from our weekend:

:)

Hope you all had a great memorial day weekend.

Thank you for those who have served for MY freedom!

foodie.

I've always been pretty passionate about cooking.  Cooking YUMMY and HEALTHY and INEXPENSIVE meals that make my husband smile :)
I usually take pictures of some of the things I make in anticipation to share them!  I've thought about making a whole separate blog just to share some of my dinner/recipe adventures, but i think for now- i'll just share on here!  I really want to record some of these things I think up just to have them for future reference!

If you know me, you know I love pizza.  You also probably know that ordering a greasy, white flour crust, pizza from the local pizza hut or what have you every week is a not-so-healthy option.  (Although...i DO love me so greasy unhealthy pizza once and a while..not gonna lie.)  Anyways, with that said, i'm always trying to think of pizza options that are:
a.) healthier
b.) quick and easy!

Hence...Naan Bread Pizza!

Naan bread is a indian style flat bread that looks like this:

 you can find it at meijer, or target.  I prefer to buy mine at Target, because then you can buy 100% whole wheat naan bread.

(it goes AMAZING with indian style, spicy food too!)

So here's what you'll need!

* 2 pkgs of whole wheat naan bread

*a jar of pizza sauce/spaghetti sauce (I use ragu with veggies in it, and no added sugar)

*1 pkg. part skim mozzarella cheese

*TOPPINGS!  my favorties to use are turkey bacon, tomatoes, green pepper and onion! Use your favorites!

And here's what you do!   (simple really...we all know how to make pizza!)

1.  Take a baking sheet, and cut your pieces of naan bread into halves or even smaller depending on what size  pieces of "pizza" you want.

2. Add Sauce, toppings, and cheese!  (also really tasty to add oregano) 

3. Bake at 375 for as long as it takes for the cheese to melt and get bubbly! :)

SO easy.

SO yummy.

eat up!

bump.

29 weeks:

Not a lot of baby news.  She weighs about 2 whole pounds now! We are switching from midwives to a doctor based out of south bend clinic.  Long long long story short, i'm just not happy with the care i've received thus far.   But both Cora & I are well.  Owen grows more and more anxious for her all the time, and LOVES to pick out clothes for her! :) He's gonna be an amazing brother.

craft.

If you know me, you know i've always, always, ALWAYS wanted to be able to sew.  I've wanted to be able to be so awesome at it i could make my own clothes.  Well, that has yet to happen.  BUT, lately, with a bit of frantic nesting kicking in, i've started doing little crafts (LITTLE i might ad)  just to keep me busy, make me feel productive, and help keep my mind off the fact that in 12 short weeks i'll have another baby.  (today marks the THIRD and FINAL trimester.)

Anyways, i hate when i put diapers in owen's diaper bag, and they get all squished on the bottom or float all around.   I decided i wanted them to stay in one place!!!! Hence, the diaper pouch:

I love it.

Next, i attempt to make a little sun dress out of this same pattern.  And then i'll move onto a big quilt/blanket/something for Cora. :)  

I should add i'm not very proficient in sewing...so wish me luck.  This is a first step!

(and yes ma...i'm still trying to get into the sewing class!!!)

:)

And a 28 week picture:

breathe.

I'm 27 weeks now.  Next week will begin the 3rd trimester....the last leg of this pregnancy race!  Now, i've done this before, so you wouldn't think i'd be so NERVOUS and ANXIOUS but i AM!

I nervous because:
a.) I need a lot more then i thought I did.  (just a tip to you mommies expecting your first...neutral is GOOD!  we got boy boy boy, and have to basically start over with girl.  I didn't really anticipate that.  (will probably host a small baby shower end of June.  Possibly the 26th? more info to come)
b.) I don't know how i'll ever love another baby as much as i love Owen.  (Now, i know this is common and a fear people say disappears as soon as the 2nd baby is born..but it's still hard)
c.) 2 kids. TWO KIDS.  One leaves me exhausted at the end of the day...but 2?
d.) Kiss sleeping through the night goodbye.
e.) Financial aspects of adding another little member to our family.

Now, all that said, i'm super excited...i just cannot believe how soon she is coming. holy cow.

front view this time:

every time i walk into the room now and owen sees me he says  "woahhh big belly!"  :) ha!  Thanks O.

maternity.

Lindsay is due the end of this month, so mom wanted to get some pictures of us since this WILL be the only time both of us are pregnant together.  So, despite i still have 3 months, we went today and got some pictures done.  I'm going to be going right before my due date to get some of my own shots, but here are some of the ones that mom got today!

"Green"

Mark & I have been talking lately about this whole "going green" concept.  We like the idea of trying to preserve God's earth, BUT, we can't help but feel that it goes too far at points.  An can even become an idol of sorts.

With a HUGE movement of people trying to do things "greener"  I've come upon a few articles that I would like to share that I agree with 100%.  Love how these are written.

Now, I'm not saying trying to improve your health, etc, is bad...in fact, I too have made a change in some things we do as well...but not just for the sake of being "Green" but for the sake of simplicity and just using my every day resources better.

Anyway- here they are!


here is part 1:

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2010/12/balancing-nutrition-and-priorities-coming-to-true-freedom-–-part-1.html

read part 2!  I like it even better:

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2010/12/balancing-nutrition-with-priorities-part-2.html


and one more:

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2010/01/can-natural-living-become-an-idol.html

The Scoop

We've been busy lately.  And it's not about to slow down, at least not quite yet.
We just got back from a Nashville trip yesterday.  We spent 4 days down there.  The reason we went down was for our friends wedding.  Mark played music in their wedding band :)

We had an amazing time, as usual.  Nashville was beautiful and lots of fun, as usual, &We loved being with our friends, as usual.  Always always bittersweet.

Stayed with Mike & Ashley and spent good time with them.  We have really special friends in Nashville.

these are all cell phone pictures, so bad quality, as usual.

Rehearsal:

We got to spend a large amount of time with Alex& Amber at their dinner, which was so amazing.  We didn't expect to hang much with them, but it was wonderful seeing them.

had my fair share of these:

:)  I think fido latte's will always be my favorite.

we also got to see my DAD!  Alabama is just shy of 3 hours from nashville, so he drove up and we spent the day with him.  We miss him so much, and it was a huge blessing to see him

I wish owen could've seen him too, as he has been asking for pappy on a weekly basis and it breaks my heart.  But luckily, dad will be coming home for about a week the end of this month, so owen will get to see him.  But while we were in Nash, Owen was busy having a blast at his grammy's house:

I also hit 26 weeks this past week:

so little time left, and yet i don't feel prepared enough! 

Also in BIG EXCITING news, I'm gonna be an aunt AGAIN!!!!!

Luke is gonna be a big bro in January !

Making ann & andrew parents again :)

were so excited!

(stole this picture from kate podjan)

I'm due in August, Kim in October, and Ann in January!! Talk about some close cousins! :)

We take off again for another wedding at the of June, this time only 3 hours away. 

weddings, traveling, babies! This is my life lately! :)

15

23 weeks:

24 weeks:

25 weeks:

and with that said, only 15 more weeks til this baby will be here.  How insane is that????? 15 weeks flies!

ahhhhhhhhhhh

Today is a big day.

It was announced today, or rather, late last night, that Osama Bin-Laden was killed.  The man whom our troops have been searching out for almost 10 years now.  A man that played a large role in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.   A man that can be partially at blame for thousands of deaths of innocent people.   He was shot, and was buried at sea less then 24 hours later.

For me personally, it is hard to know the appropriate role or response in this situation.  For me, an individual who loves the Lord, and to me, that means loving people.  But, who also, like other Americans, wants to see an end to terrorism as a whole.    I saw news clips of people dancing and celebrating, as i'm sure you all did too.  I don't feel as this is an appropriate response.  I don't feel as though death is something that should be celebrated.   In Ezekiel 18 it says the following:
"Remember beloved, God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather, they should turn from their ways and live."

This whole situation brings me to think of the example of war.  I don't like war, and I don't think anyone does, but sometimes, it is necessary.  That is the state that our world is in, unfortunately.
I think as christians, it is important to see this event and to mourn the state of our country, of our world, and the state of the human heart as a whole.  A country doesn't just arrive at the state ours is in, it slowly becomes that way.  And behind choices, whether they are to decide to bomb a building, or to shoot someone in the head, is the human heart.

I personally feel as though my role in this whole situation, as a Christian, is to pray for not just our country, but for our world and the many hearts that make up this world.

I definitely don't claim to know any of the right answers, but I guess there are some of my thoughts to toss around.