2 Years Old!

My sweet girl, Zoë, you are 2 years old today! It's hard to believe we are already here, celebrating this milestone with you. You are such a joy to be around -- your smile, hearing you talk, your curly locks-- each of these things make you so very dear to us! Here's what you're up to at two:

Celebrating Miriam's 3rd Birthday! 

- You communicate well! You can say so many words and phrases I can't even venture a guess to number how many. You're recently transitioning from "Mama" to "Mommy", Levi is still "Bubba" as Levi is a bit difficult to say, and you're grouping more words together. It can still be a bit difficult for others to understand what you're asking for, but with context, we're communicating pretty well around the house.

Legos! 

- You love your brothers very much and they love you right back. Levi can be very protective of you. You want to go where they go and do what they do, at least for a little while. Then you might venture off on your own.

First time playing with Barbies

- You are such a joy to be around! Your smile is contagious and you laugh easily.

Movie time with Miriam 

- You are wearing 18 month and 2T clothes, size 4 diapers, and size 6 shoes. You let me leave a ponytail in your hair best, but have recently stopped messing with your barrettes for most of the day -- hooray! You really need your hair clipped back because it is past your eyes in the front, so I'm trying to train it to go back or to the side instead of giving you bangs. You are starting to help get yourself undressed at bath time and like to help gather and put on your shoes before we go outside.

Celebrating Amelia's 1st Birthday

- You typically sleep from 9 pm - 7 am and take a 2 hr. nap from 1-3 pm.

Mother's Day 2017

Mother's Day 2017 

- You like to help me bake, unload the dishwasher, and can follow instructions fairly well, such as "Put your book in the bookcase." You often cover your ears when the vacuum, coffee grinder, or blender are on. You enjoy helping take care of our new chickens. And you still love Dora! You seem to be very aware of the animals/nature around you. You enjoy looking for bugs and let me know if a "spider" is on you, which is your word for most any bug, usually an ant. You are not afraid of much.

Making coffeecake for Mother's Day 

- You like watching movies with dogs in them, such as "Up", "Bolt", and a new favorite (on VHS) "Lady and the Tramp". You are pretty easy-going and will take up whatever someone asks you to do. You haven't complained much about all the bug bites you've gotten this summer. You're still wearing links as bracelets, currently 4 reside on your wrist, including one you can see in the picture below :) You have begun taking swim lessons with your cousin Miriam at the YMCA. You are brave and I really have to follow you closely around the pool because you'll just keep walking straight into the deep end. When I ask you to close your mouth, you open it and stick your tongue out to lick the water. You are a stinker!

Girls' Breakfast with Grandma 

Zoë Kayte, you are so loved! You are a beautiful girl with your big blue eyes and curly brown hair. I love snuggling with you at night and reading books with you. You love to point out the dogs. You'll keep repeating "Momma, Momma, Momma" or "Dada, Dada, Dada" until we stop reading and you show us the dog on the page. You have learned and grown so much in the past year. You are saying numbers and counting just a little. You like pretending things are phones, including a favored domino, and talking and taking calls. I'd say you eat as well as the boys did at this age and continue to love your morning juice. You like singing songs from "Sing" and "Moana" and will occasionally just walk around asking for "Moana" which is why we chose that as your theme for your party! You are a great jumper, both on the ground and on the trampoline and enjoy dancing with us in the kitchen. I can't wait to see what you'll learn in the year ahead as we begin school with Zeke and you absorb what he's learning. Happy 2nd Birthday sweet daughter!
Love, Mommy

A Decade of Marriage

I'm not one to shy away from saying life can be tough. Parenting. Moving. Marriage.

There are certainly joys and adventures that come with each experience! And I believe life is made richer through change and being brave and walking through your fear. Sometimes I wish more people had shared their stories with me. Given me a better idea of what to expect as I grew up. There's no way you can prepare someone else for what they will experience in their own life story, but connecting with others, being vulnerable, saying "you're not alone" is beyond valuable; it creates significance in our lives, helping us to not feel alone and afraid.

I never mind trying to give the "full picture"; not just giving the highlight reel. My typical anniversary posts usually convey the highs and the lows, the good and the bad, the easy road and the challenging one. Because it's true. Marriage is hard work and can rub you ragged like sandpaper and some of us (like me) have some pretty rough edges.

But today, on this, our 10th anniversary, I want to share the good. I want to be a little sappy. I want to tell you that marriage can be wonderful and worth jumping into with both feet and worth fighting for. {This is going to be a bit difficult for me to write because I'd much rather be sarcastic and sassy, so "Hello, welcome to the softer side of Tricia." :)}

Daytona Beach, FL -- Fall 2016

To Jeremiah, A Reflection on our Years together --

We met in college and there was an immediate spark.
You bared your heart to me as you drove me home, ready to date me.
I said "thank you" and got out of the car. Afraid to let someone in. I was busy.

We started to date, looked at the stars in the park on dark nights. Talked about hopes and dreams. Still I was afraid. When would the other shoe drop? I was waiting to be disappointed. But instead you asked me to be your wife; with a ring in a sock in a living room. It was simple. I hesitated. What if I was making a mistake? Isn't divorce genetic? I said "Yes" doubting myself every minute. Lucky you.

I had never dreamed of my wedding day. But we put it together, piece by piece, and made it ours.

Over the years we've moved, a lot. We've failed at things. We've hurt each other. We've grown up. And when I think how God has woven our lives together, I can't be anything but grateful. You believed in me when I didn't. You loved me when I was afraid. I didn't know anything was missing from my life until I met you. You are my constant support, holding me up when life knocks us down. Taking my hand when I don't want to take another step. Your love is quiet and constant, waiting for me to slow down and be still and allow myself to feel it. You give me permission to rest when I don't think I should. You wash the dishes so my hands won't hurt and itch and be red. You serve me faithfully. You choose to be kind even when I push you away. There aren't any requirements I must meet for you to love me; no hairstyle, body shape, style of clothing -- and I've had a lot of them -- changes the way you feel, you still call me beautiful, and mean it.

I still like it when we hold hands and sit near each other on the couch when we watch a movie or TV show. It makes me smile when you open the door for me, even though I nearly beat it out of you while we were dating with my prideful, independent remarks of "I can open my own door!" followed by an eye roll. Who knew that such a small gesture really showed more kindness rather than taking anything away from me.

We've grown up, together, these past 10 years. Oh yes, we know how to push each other's buttons and shut each other down with a simple phrase that cuts like a knife. But we've also learned that sometimes holding your tongue is worth the effort. That saying an encouraging word rather than a critical one is worth the creativity it takes to form it.

We are better together than we are apart. Living our life together has made us stronger, braver, united. You make me want to be a better person, for you, for me, for our family. Our reliance on each other, and ultimately God, has woven our cord of 3 strands so tightly, we will not be easily broken. I love you more today than I believed possible at our wedding 10 years ago. I love our life together and think that the years ahead are full of promise, adventure, support, and love. Happy Anniversary!

21 Months Old!

Zoë Kayte -- you are 21 months old today! This post is going to be fast and breezy because it's already the evening of May 1st, so I'm going to do my best to commemorate what I can :)

- You can say lots of words -- there's no way I could list them all because each day your vocabulary is growing and changing! You have begun to string together 2-3 word sentences, such as "Hi Mommy!" You are also starting to use "help" when you need my help with something. You call Levi "Bubba" since Levi is hard to say. You are starting to sing along with our Doxology prayer in the evenings. You sing along to the "Moana" songs and love to dance along to the music in the car. You like to watch "Oct-nauts". You know quite a few body parts, especially on the face, and like to name them on yourself, or me, or Dora.

- You like wearing links as bracelets. In particular, you like the black and white links and a light pink one, which you are currently wearing (and have worn all day)! You enjoy your accessories -- sunglasses, bracelets, hats, etc. I'm still working on barrettes and headbands, at least keeping them in.

- You get into everything -- Dora's room where you like to dump the food in the water bowl. And scoop things with her litter box scoop (gross!). You like to unload the dishwasher and push the buttons. You pull clothes out of the drawers and unfold my piles of folded laundry. You reach your hand into the silverware drawer and pull out whatever's close. You like taking the tupperware out of the pantry and unloading the lazy susan.

Enjoying some apple pie on 3.14

- You wake up thirsty and always chug a full glass of juice or water. You are not very patient for it. Followed quickly by breakfast. You love sausage, but will eat your eggs most of the time too. You are not too picky, although you definitely work in phases -- you were eating mashed potatoes by the bowl full just a few months ago, and now you won't touch them.

- You seem to love animals! Especially Dora and Marty.

Valentine cups from Grandma

- You do your best to keep up with your brothers. Whether they are outside, coloring pictures, or playing with play-doh, you are in on the action.

- You are wearing size 3 diapers and mostly 18 month clothes, although some of them are getting too short for you, so I have begun to get out the 24 month and 2T clothes. Your shoes range from size 5-6. Your hair is starting to get into your eyes, so I'm continually trying to sweep it to the side since barrettes don't last long. You have some curls at the back and throughout.

Your favorite blanket

- You take a good nap, about 2 hours, right after lunch each day. And then sleep from about 9 pm - 7 am each night. You like to go to bed with your pink blanket and soft, white cow pillow.

Zoë, we love you so much! You add life and joy and laughter to every day. I love to see your smile, which lights up your whole face! You are smart, sweet, and kind and I cannot wait to see you enjoy the summer ahead! Love, Mommy

A Morning for the Girls

Zoë and I had a fun morning with Grandma on Tuesday. Since it's her spring break, she took us to breakfast at Mimi's Cafe! We got *delicious* french toast and Zoë had a puppy dog pancake. It was very quiet when we arrived around 8 am and Zoë seemed a little weirded out by the lack of noise. She was very clingy to me and even had me feed her for awhile. Then as the noise level increased, she became more comfortable and finally sat in the high chair and fed herself. Think she is used to more noise on a regular basis??

After breakfast, we went over to Target and did a little shopping. Zoë got a new headband that makes her look like a bunny and picked out a new shirt from Grandma for Easter. It was a fun morning!

A Poem for March

The weather is pretty, the sun is out
But inside we're coughing and sneezing.
The pollen is floating, the flower are blooming,
The kids can't keep from wheezing.

We need a good rain, it's been a dry winter
I'm so glad that Spring's finally here!
Here's a few pictures from our laid back week
Hope your weekend is filled with good cheer!

Last week of Winter

We have had some gorgeous weather for our last week of winter! We've tried to spend lots of time outside taking walks and soaking up the sunshine. Not to mention, with the time change, we can take walks after supper again. Hooray!

Friday Night Food

Jeremiah is a big fan of Chinese Food. I, on the other hand, care for it only sporadically. When we were dating, if I even started the sentence, "I think I'd like Chinese for..." -- "YES!" was Jeremiah's immediate response :D He was always ready. 

As we've been discovering dairy seems to be hard for 3/5 of our family, we have decided to forgo Friday night as pizza night. So I have begun to make Chinese food instead. It takes a bit more effort, but take-out is so expensive, I can't justify getting that every week. So I've been working on getting a few recipes in rotation, so we don't get bored, but also get to enjoy our favorites. 

I plan to share a few new recipes over the coming weeks/months (we'll see how long it takes for me to get around to it!). The first one is Chow Mein. I never realized how delicious Chinese noodles were until we lived in TX and I tried lo mein for the first time. I had only associated rice with Chinese food before. But I've found that I really enjoy the noodles! From Pioneer Woman's Dinnertime cookbook, this recipe is located in the 16- Minute Meal section. The first couple of times I made it, it proved to be closer to 30/35 minutes. Then I decided to prep all my veggies before we went to the pool one afternoon, we came home and I threw it all together, and Voila!, 16 minute meal indeed! So, my word of advice is to prep those veggies ahead of time and you'll be ready to get dinner on the table pretty quick! 

Shredded carrots, napa cabbage, and sliced onions, ready to cook! 

Since this was my main course for dinner, I chopped up a couple of chicken breasts I had cooked earlier in the week and added them to the noodles for protein. I decided to double the recipe (partly because I would never use that second half of the napa cabbage, so I figured we might as well use up the entire thing) I'm going to write out for you below and we ate a good lot of it, but also had some nice leftovers the next day.

Look at my adorable helper! 

Ingredients: 1 T. peanut oil 

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 cup julienned carrots

4 green onions, sliced

1/2 head napa cabbage, thinly sliced (I use the food processor.)

8 oz. thin Chinese noodles, cooked according to the package directions

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1 tsp. sesame oil

Heat the peanut oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes, until it starts to soften. Add the carrots, and half the green onions, then stir and let the veggies cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the cabbage and cook for 2 minutes more, then add the noodles, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Toss it together, then add the rest of the green onions. Serve hot. -- from The Pioneer Woman Dinnertime cookbook. 

Our family really enjoys this recipe! I'm excited to share more of our favorites with you!