Mom Motivation

To me, this quote speaks volumes. It's hanging prominently in my craft room and is on repeat in my head daily. When I glance at it, I am reminded to make the most of these years with my babies. To listen to them; to get down on their level and look at them face to face; to play peek a boo for the 100th time; to try to figure out what the heck they are saying with their two year old vocabulary; to get up and shake it during the "Hot Dog Dance"; to celebrate even the smallest milestones with them; and most importantly, to just put aside my grown up agenda (and if I'm being honest, my iPhone) and play. That's what I want them to remember. That I was never too busy or too distracted to just be their mom. These days are numbered and I hope to make every one of them count.

So, here's to being the mom's we want them to remember!

Mexican Taco Monday!

At the end of a dreadful Monday, I always need a good meal to look forward to. Am I right?

I found this recipe a few weeks ago when reading a magazine, made a few changes to make it work for us, and now we have a new easy weeknight dinner. Ole!

The secret to this recipe is in the beans. Seriously! They're packed with flavor and add a perfect kick to the meal.

Chicken Fajita Tacos

What you need for the beans-

1 can of black beans (or 2 if you're making a larger batch; which we have been doing)

1/4 cup cilantro

4 slices of deli sliced jalepeno peppers

Sprinkle of salt and pepper

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons water

1 tsp. cumin 

1 tsp. garlic powder

All of your ingredients for the beans.

Put all of the ingredients into your food processor and press go! After the beans are mixed, simply transfer them to a pot and warm them on the stove.

Next, cook a chicken breast. Then cut it into strips, dice it or shred it (however you like it)! Or you can take the easy route, which I prefer to do on a weeknight every night, and use a pre-cooked chicken like this one:

This is really delicious and takes just three minutes in the microwave! #winning

Grab your tortilla, spread a generous amount of beans on it, add your chicken and any other desired toppings (I added salsa and cheese) and dinner is done. BOOM.

The picture really doesn't do it justice. This meal is delicious!

It's a really quick weeknight meal. To save time you can prepare the beans over the weekend and keep them in the fridge. When you are ready to eat, just heat them up.

I also love this because you can do several variations. The first night I made it, we had shredded chicken tostadas. Lately, we've been doing fajita tacos. You can also substitute the chicken for beef, make quesadillas, or a taco salad. Again, the flavor in this recipe comes from the beans. It's all about the beans!

And did I mention that if you dip the taco in queso it's absolute perfection? Because every Monday deserves some queso. 

Weeknight Pasta

Before we got married, my family threw me a kitchen shower where guests attached a recipe to their gift. I got a few great recipes, and this weeknight pasta was one of them (thanks, Kim!). It has three ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen. It's so easy to throw together on a busy weeknight, trust me!

A little background: my husband is a very picky eater...and that is an understatement. He doesn't eat anything green; no fruits, veggies, or anything remotely healthy. His favorite veggie: salsa; favorite fruit: red starburst. This is not an exaggeration. So, cooking in our house can be quite a challenge as you can probably imagine.

Fortunately, we both agree on this dish and love it. Hope you enjoy it, too!

Balsamic Pasta
9 oz. store bought ravioli (or your favorite pasta) (we use the Buitoni brand)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
Chopped, toasted walnuts, if desired (hubs does NOT desire)
Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top

How to make it: Boil water. Add pasta and cook until tender. Drain pasta and put back in pot. While pasta is boiling, combine butter and vinegar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until bubbly. Once foam subsides and butter turns brown, turn heat off and let it cool. Stir in the balsamic butter mix with the pasta. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese and walnuts on top.

This is what the final product looks like (for tonight, anyway).



I also love this dish because there are several variations to it. You can use ravioli, tortellini, angel hair, and the list goes on. You can easily throw in last night's leftover chicken to make it a more hearty dish or add in some sun dried tomatoes and spinach to get your veggies for the day. I usually serve it with a light salad, too. It's also good reheated for lunch the next day (if that's your thing...and it's very much my thing!).

Bon appétit!

The Boys: 3 Months and 2 Years

I think we are finally getting used to being parents of two. It's been such an adjustment going from one to two. The freedom we were used to with Connor (being more on the go, able to easily get out the door, etc.) is long gone for the moment. Don't get me wrong, we are on the go quite a bit, but it just takes longer and requires more planning with Parker in tow.

Connor is at my favorite age -- but surely I've thought this about every age he's been at! He talks in little sentences, can sing his ABC's and other songs, knows numbers and shapes and is so observant! Right now, he loves to sing Wheels on the Bus, Humpty Dumpty, Jesus Loves Me, No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, Muffin Man, Thumpkin and Hey Fightin' Tigers (of course!). It's the cutest thing listening to him sing! We've also been doing "big hugs" and saying "Can I have 4 kisses...and he will give me 4 kisses" (or however many I ask for). Gah! Just when I think I can't get enough of Connor, the next day he does something else adorable and I fall more in love with him. Little people are just the cutest!

Parker is adorable, of course. All of his coo's and grins melt my heart. He loves to move his legs like crazy, smile with his adorable dimples, and chew on his hands! He sleeps through the night most of the time, which is lovely! We haven't gotten a lot of great pics of him...he's not hamming it up for the camera yet! My favorite thing is to kiss his cheeks. Connor had these meaty cheeks, and while Parker's are not small by any means, they are more dense and you can really get good kisses!

First smile to finally catch on camera! Love my Parker Man!

Those legs and that belly...can you even stand it?

First time to get the kiddie cart at Kroger - he was so excited about the flag and he was a great grocery helper!

He loves taking a bubble bath and blowing the bubbles! He says "my bow" and "mama bow" (blow)

Much to my surprise, I love being a boy mom! But I also realize we aren't to the stinky, dirty, icky stages just yet...and that's okay with me!

Parker's Birth Story: Part Two

The first time I remember seeing my baby, this is what I saw.

This picture is so hard to look at. I lost it when I saw Parker in his NICU bed. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. I was supposed to be snuggling my baby in my hospital room, peeking in on him in the nursery when I was doing my laps around the floor, and introducing him to a stream of visitors. I was supposed to be wheeled out of the hospital with a newborn in my arms.

But that was not our beginning. Our life with Parker began in the NICU at Texas Children’s Hospital. He was diagnosed with TTN (transient tachypnea of the newborn). It happens to about 1% of newborns and because of my gestational diabetes and c-section, Parker was more prone to TTN. It basically means that he had rapid breathing from excess fluid in his lungs. So, we had to wait for him to regulate his breathing on his own. This usually takes up to a couple of days after birth, but it took Parker eight days. It’s something he had to do on his own, and it’s certainly something we didn’t want to rush, as badly as we wanted him home.

A lot of tears were shed during Parker’s NICU stay and a lot of prayers were spoken. Being home without my baby made me feel so lost. I didn’t feel like I belonged home, when my baby was not there with me. And don’t forget, I was recovering from a c-section and had trouble getting around. I couldn’t get on the floor and play with my toddler like we were both accustomed to. It broke my heart every time he said “Mama, up” for me to hold him and I couldn’t. I was an absolute emotional wreck. For the first time in two years, I didn’t feel like a mom and it was devastating.

We spent long days up at the hospital with Parker and our evenings at home attending to Connor, basking in the sweet innocence that he had no idea what was going on with his baby brother. During those days, we got to know the nurses and wore them out with questions as we eagerly waited for our doctor to round and give us news about our baby’s progress. One of the first days when we were in the NICU, a sweet nurse started giving us maps of the hospital parking garages and tips on how to save on parking fees. All I could think was, “Does she know something I don’t know?” and “Just how long are we going to be here? Long enough to need to know this information?” I felt so helpless. I still couldn’t believe this was happening to us.

When I get lost in thought, I can still hear the beeping machines and the overwhelming smell of hand sanitizer that surrounded us each day at the hospital. I can still see my baby with wires all over his body and a cannula in his nose. On some level, I’m afraid we will have to return there, where our tender little boy's life revolves around the numbers on the screen and his saturation levels. But for now, I will cherish each and every day that we have our baby at home with us.

I’m so thankful our story has a happy ending. Holding Parker for the first time without any wires was such a joyful moment.

Receiving the news that we were able to take him home was another big moment for us. I couldn’t contain my excitement when the doctor told us he could go home! It was everything we had been praying for. We could bring our car seat into the hospital and take our baby home!

Fast-forward ten weeks, and Parker is a happy, healthy, chunky baby! Not a day goes by that I don’t give thanks to God for our little boy.

He had a rough start in this world. Our story reminds me of one of my favorite movie quotes. "Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most."

How thankful I am to be living in our middle!

Parker's Birth Story: Part One

Whether we admit it or not, we all have a plan for how we want our child’s birth to happen.

We had a date. A perfectly planned out date that we hand picked. And, I’m a planner – both by vocation and lifestyle. So, I like my plans to fall in to place, thank you very much. But as we all know, the best laid plans so often fall through.

Our date was scheduled exactly two weeks and two days after Connor's 2nd birthday (maybe I like the number two?). This was two weeks I had planned to devote myself to big brother Connor, making sure he felt so loved by me before I had to turn my attention elsewhere. Two weeks for last minute appointments, wrapping things up at work, finishing the nursery, and deciding on a name (finally) for the baby. Two weeks for a mani/pedi, highlights, errands. But, I never got those two weeks. God had other plans.

Parker arrived at 37 ½ weeks gestation. 2 ½ weeks early and 2 weeks before our scheduled c-section.

It was on a Wednesday, the day after Connor’s second birthday. We had so much fun celebrating Connor on his birthday. We made his favorite meal – hot dogs – and had a special birthday cupcake just for him. They fussed over him at school, we played choo choo’s at home and did everything we could to make sure he felt so special. It was a sweet day for our little family!

The next day, I woke up with tremendous stomach pains. I’d had some before, but these had me doubled over in pain. I didn’t have time to sit and rest because I had to get Connor to the pediatrician for his two-year checkup. After his checkup, we headed into school. I was still in so much pain, I was crying (and I'm not a crier). I called the doctor’s office and they told me to come in for monitoring. I called Jeremy to meet me at school and after I dropped Connor, we headed up to the hospital.

Sure enough, I ended up being in the early stages of labor. Through an IV, they gave me fluids to try and stop the labor, but I ended up progressing over the next couple of hours. During those hours we were in triage, we were productive and picked a name for our baby! Better late than never, right? I had back labor this time, and that was pretty painful. WOW. That is no joke. My labor all happened so quickly (and unexpectedly). When the doctor came in and said, "It's baby day!" I cried. How could it already be happening? It's not time! 

Luckily, my mom was able to get to the hospital pretty quickly. Her excitement over meeting her fifth grandbaby made me feel less anxious about everything that was happening. We called Jeremy's parents in Baton Rouge, and they got on the road as quickly as they could.

Before I knew, it, I was taken into pre-op where I was asked what seemed like hundreds of questions by several doctors, nurses (even one of my sorority sisters, which was a fun surprise!) and the oh-so-important anesthesiologist. It really was baby time.

It seemed like one minute Jeremy and I were making lunch plans, and in the blink of an eye, we were getting ready to have our baby.

Once in the operating room, everyone jumped into action. I was so thankful that my doctor was there with me through all of that chaos. It was nice to have a familiar face during an unsettling time. Then, I felt so much better once Jeremy came into the operating room. It felt like I was in there without him for such a long period of time. At one point, I reminded a nurse to go get my husband! 

Once I was deadened and ready to go, Jeremy and I talked nervously and took a selfie (aren’t we so hip?). We were so excited to meet our baby boy!

After what seemed like an eternity, we heard that sweet sound – our baby boy crying! The nurses said he came out crying, kicking (sounds about right, based on all those belly kicks!) and peeing! The crying stopped and they took him to the side to get all of his measurements done. He was over there for a really long time, and I kept thinking, “Why don’t they bring him over?” “When can I see my baby?”

And that’s when we realized something was wrong.

My 2014

My highlight of 2014 was this:

Meet Parker Henry Ford. Born on Wednesday, November 5th at 5:47 p.m. This little nugget weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces and he was 21 1/4th inches long. He came out kicking, crying and peeing!

We found out we were expecting Parker in March. This was a huge HUGE surprise to us. I feel like life just kind of happens to Jeremy and me. We don't really make a lot of big plans (besides a weekly dinner menu, if that). We go about our day to day routines and big things happen along the way -- a trip, new house, new car, babies. This is probably why we are so good together. We just take things as they come our way.

Here are some of my favorite memories from 2014:

This kid. He makes everyday fun. In the car, he loves for us to play "round and round and round and round" also known as "Wheels on the Bus." He does the motions to "Itsy, Bitsy Spider," "Happy and You Know It" (and taps his chin for "and your face will surely show it"...hilarious) and "Skinny Marinky." Never a dull moment in the car!

He was an LSU football player for Halloween (you aren't surprised). We had trunk or treat with our Sunday School class and our trunk tied for first place for the decorations. It was a fun tradition we started with our littles as they went from car to car getting candy and goodies!

Stop it. He's saying "cheese" and he's dressed like an Indian. Can't even handle this cuteness.

Connor and his baby Par-ka on Christmas Day. What a special Christmas we had in Baton Rouge with these two sweet ones.

This summer we took a trip to Hunt, TX, with friends and spent a long relaxing weekend on the Guadalupe. It was a fun vacation and we enjoyed playing outside, the Crider's rodeo and late night games! 

Love doing life with these people. This is our Sunday School class...and they have so richly blessed our lives.

Parker man at just 3 weeks old! Filling out his 3 month clothes already. I sure loved being home with him every day during maternity leave. 

LSU didn't have a remarkable season, but Connor loved tailgating and going to a game. His favorite part? The band performance at halftime! "More band" he kept saying!

Before pregnancy really kicked in (and the summer heat) I spent three mornings a week running with these girls. They were worth waking up at 5 a.m. for. We ran several 5K's and enjoyed pushing each other and staying in shape together. Hopefully I can get back in the running game again in 2015!

We moved! We have a bigger home in a darling neighborhood that is perfect for our growing family. We've really enjoyed making our new house into our home and settling in. We are enjoying the extra space and the YARD!

Connor turned 2 by doing his most favorite thing - riding the choo-choo! This year, he fell in love with choo-choo's! There's nothing sweeter than seeing your child get so excited for something! He had the best time at his birthday party riding the train at Hermann Park. He would move his arm up and down and say "choo-choo!" and say "Mama ride choo-choo; Dada ride choo-choo; I ride choo-choo!" 

This was definitely an unforgettable year! Here's to 2015!