What did I just sign?

Life has been incredibly full and a bit of a whirlwind lately . I blame it partly on the fact that most days my hubby and I are wandering around in a sleep-deprived haze. And the other part due to the fact that we officially put our house on the market.....whoa, what?

I think we both made the decision in the dark, in the wee hours of the morning while peering over at our more-than-awake baby over and over...and over again.  Or perhaps my husband made the decision after many nights of me crying my way through, often muttering ungrateful things under my breath....I found myself having to apologize a lot after downing a cup pot of coffee in the early morning.

Sleep deprivation can make you say some awful things.

Honestly, after dragging my tired bum out of bed each morning, despite how horrible of a night we had....it always got better. And I would think to myself, I need to be thanking God that we have a roof over our heads, food to eat, and two amazing boys.

How I wished my mind would stay in that positive state during the many nighttime wakings. 

Needless to say, we knew the day would come when we would need to say good-bye to our home again, this time for good.

We have officially outgrown the walls, and they are bursting at the seams. I don't know if I have truly allowed my heart to get involved yet, as everything still seems a bit surreal. Despite how I have acted towards our home the past month or so, I really do hold it in a special place in my heart.

It is the house that I found lined with candles and flowers as I unsuspectingly showed up for a date...only to be met with my man on bended knee, with a rock, and some sweet words. It is the first home I got to move in to after saying "I do" and the first place I ever got to share with a boy. 

And almost 6 months later....

The home we hugged and cried in as we found out we were going to be a family of three. The home that held our first nursery, the home we brought our first bundle home in. The home with the perfect hallway to pace and walk not-so-sleepy newborns in. The place that taught my oldest boundaries, and where he learned to crawl and explore in. The home that is more often then not, covered with train tracks and cars. There are fingerprints on the coffee table, and a smudge on the TV. Some might call it messy, I call it sentimental....fingerprints that are too sweet to wipe clean. The home that has seen the growing of yet another little boy.....the boy that has overtaken our room with his coos, smiles, and screams. The one who is the culprit of me falling asleep sitting up, and sometimes spending more time entertaining himself than actually sleeping. Me and 3AM have become somewhat good friends within these walls, thanks to our littlest man.

Yes, these walls have seen much love and many memories in the making. They have seen us in our most vulnerable, and in our biggest joys.

I am excited, stressed, and a bottle of nerves. I am nervous we won't find what we are wanting, yet I am excited to know that God will provide just what we need.

He knows we need our own room back, but I think He also knows that despite what I say or when I cry from the lack of sleep....deep down I am going to miss having my Benny boy sleeping 2 feet from us, I'm going to miss holding my breath just to make sure I can still hear him breathing. And I'm going to miss waking up to two bright eyes staring over at me.

And don't forget all the memories that seep from every corner of this house...I will hold them close to my heart forever.

So, we are doing this,we are saying good-bye to the walls that helped make this house our home. We are going to run around like crazy chickens making sure our house is in tip-top shape should someone call to come look.  I have bins available to dump and stash things in, so that people can think  I am a rock star mom who knows how to keep a clean, calm house with 2 boys. (ha!)

It's time, it's time to give our boys a house where they will have more room to do this....

Or this....

Hopefully with more rocks and more grass...

A home with walls that can get to know us as well as these have.

And if it crosses your mind, could you please send up a quick prayer that God will direct us right where He wants us. Our hope is to find a home that will be with our family for many years to come...

I will try my best to keep everyone updated as we go along this process. Thanks in advance for all of the support and prayers!

Wordless Wednesday

My heart runneth over a million times.

I love them. They adore each other.

Doesn't get much better.....

 

Why I love having boys...

Because they aren't afraid to play in the dirt, wrestle with daddy, or give their mama sweet kisses.

They also like bugs.

And hopefully I can train them up to be spider ninjas. I mean, why not? I hate spiders. Judging from Cole's fascination with this lady bug yesterday, I think he will be a prime candidate.

It's amazing the buddies you make on your way back from the park.

Watching him study that little bug brought me so much joy! I hope he continues to love exploring the world God created for him, and may one day that love point him to the one Who created it.

Keep being all boy bud, keep playing, keep getting dirty, keep being inquisitive, and keep being you, the one this mama loves so dearly.  

I still remember writing Cole's 7 month post like it was yesterday.  It's such a nostalgic time, they are growing and I can no longer ignore the fact that they won't be my wee babies for much longer.

Bennett is officially becoming a little man.

He is changing daily, and blowing my mind. It's as if we turned a whole new page over night. Here is what is going on in this chapter of his life....

He is my loud-mouth. He is going to be the kid that has no volume control, the one that talks loud, laughs loud, burps loud....he will be all boy, and have no problem announcing it to the world.

He can also go from happy-go-lucky to mad-as-hades in seconds flat. Hence, being my loud mouth, with well tuned pipes. Thankfully though, he stays happy most days. But every once in awhile I get looks like this, it's my cue to act quickly.

At night he has decided to become a tummy sleeper, which means we no longer swaddle his arms. Which also means that we are dealing with a whole new set of sleep interruptions. (Not that it really has made any difference, he still wakes up about every 1-2 hours.) With his arms free he likes to scratch, feel, pat, thump, his way around his bed. I have to admit, it is pretty cute waking up to him on his tummy peaking over at me.

He rolls around like nobody's business. It's his means of getting what he wants. He has also started to propel himself forward, and tucking his little tush up as if trying to get into the crawl position. Yesterday while getting his bath ready, he was going crazy on the floor....I seriously thought he was going to crawl right on over to where I was! Everyone says that he will probably crawl a lot sooner than his brother (9 1/2 months). But I have learned not to hold my breath on those kinds of things.

He is soooo sturdy on his legs. He likes to pull himself up with my hands, I can even let go for a few seconds and he stands there looking all proud. I have to do a lot of convincing him to sit, when he does, he does great! 

And yes, he still becomes a little plank when I try to get him in the sitting position, it's quite impressive, he is going to have some mighty strong ab muscles if he keeps this up.

He is my jokester, loves to play peek-a-boo. And gets a tickle out of any kind of goofy antic I can come up with.

The other day he started a new game,  while I hold him in my arms, he pushes off of me, arches his back so that he can look into my eyes. Every time I look down at him he shrieks, giggles, and then nuzzles his face into my arm.  Only to repeat this scenario over and over again. I love seeing his goofy side slip out. Plus, any excuse I have to look into his blue eyes I will gladly take. Even if it means nap time is postponed a little longer, sleep will always come. But each moment, is just that, a moment that I will not be able get back. So I will indulge in his little game without feeling one bit guilty.

I have started him on some solids.  He immediately loved it, and handled it so much better than Cole did. Cole gagged and choked when I first tried, so I held off until 7 1/2, almost 8 months. With every bite he responds with, "Num, num, um, um". I gess that's a good sign! So far we have had great luck with avocado, pear, squash (home grown by my parents), and organic oatmeal. cereal. I had forgotten how much I enjoy making baby food, although I still wish that I could just solely breastfeed until he turns a year. But I don't think he would be satisfied with that, he just wants to do everything that big brother, mama, and dadda do.

He has eyes that sparkle and a smile that can turn my world upside down. he gets delighted over the little things, whether I just talk to him, or give him a new toy to play with....however, take that toy away....and his sparkle will start to spit fire.

Our latest battle has been during bath time. He loves it, loves to splash and play. And loves to grab the washcloth to suck and chew on. If I try to take the washcloth away and give him something else....he gets very upset....like, inconsolable upset. I am so not used to that kind of response, even to this day I can take most things away from Cole and he just keeps on carrying on.

Bennett is much more opinionated. And much more vocal about anything and everything.

Even more so when I take him out of his bath and put lotion on him. Still hates it, always did, and I'm guessing always will.

He still gets overwhelmed in social situations where there are lots of people, like at family gatherings. He is getting better, I just have to allow him time to warm up.

He weighs just over 16 pounds. Funny how different he is from when his brother was his age.

And just in case I am boring you,  I will wind this post up....

He may be little, but he has big personality. He may holler loudly, and cry when things don't go his way.....but he drips with sweetness just the same.

I wouldn't want him to be any other way. I love how he differs from his brother and is such his own personality. he is passionate, and keeps life interesting.

I love everything about him, I honestly didn't think I could love as much as I do my two boys. They make my world right.

I'm a wife, a mother, a daughter, a...breadmaker?

Since it's been awhile since my last post about food, I thought I would share this quick and easy dinner.

I want to start off by saying I love to bake, but have always shied away from baking bread. My mom is the bread maker, she used to make it when we were little, she made it when we were older, and she makes it now. And it is good. I even remember her making bear bread shaped like, well, a bear. Complete with raisin eyes and a raisin nose, weird how as a little girl bread in the shape of a bear automatically tastes 100 times better!

So no, I am not going to share with you a recipe on bear bread, but the key is that I am actually going to share a recipe to make bread in general. This is big. Because like I said, I do NOT make bread.

But this, this calls for the clapping of hands, because it made me feel like a true artisan bread maker. AND it not only tasted that way, but it looked that way, crunched that way, and disappeared that way. The way any true, ridiculously expensive bread should. Except, it wasn't expensive, it wasn't hard, and it wasn't artisan.

But it was good, have I mentioned that yet? 

And it was about as easy as eating pie. And it tasted great scooping up the remaining bits of this....

Spinach And Artichoke Chicken
Source: Add a Pinch

• 8 chicken breasts
• 13.75 oz artichoke hearts packed in water, drained
• 10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ cup Greek yogurt
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375º F. Spray baking dish with nonstick baking spray.
2. Place chicken into baking dish. Salt and pepper chicken and then bake 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients and then pour on top of chicken. Bake 20-25 minutes.

And then eat it with a thick slice of crunchy artisan bread....almost like eating creamy spinach and artichoke dip and calling it dinner. Doesn't get much better than that.

And when there is dip there needs to be bread.

If you want to make bread that consists literally of mixing together 4 ingredients, letting it sit in a bowl overnight and then tossing it into the oven.....then head on over to Savory Sweet Life and make the Faster, Easier No-Knead Bread.

This bread will make many more debuts at our kitchen table for sure. And we are all very excited about that. :)