It's the season for thanksgiving and I have so much to be thankful for!

So many of my friends are posting things they are thankful for every day this month and I wish I could be dedicated enough to do the same. But since my days are often a little chaotic I'm sure I will skip days which will add another FAIL to my list of things I set out to accomplish. Hopefully by blogging the things I am thankful for I can list several in one post which will allow me a little grace.

Which brings me to the first on my list, Grace. I am definitely thankful for Gods grace every day. I think of all the graces He has given me and often find myself ashamed that Im usually not even half as gracious to the people around me. I fall short with my children, my family, in traffic, with my internet service provider :), etc. Being gracious is something that I have really started to make myself aware of every second of every day. I found this great list on the all-knowing internet from Richard Blackaby's book, “Putting a Face on Grace” that is really helping me put into perspective how to show grace more often.

•Speak words intended to build up, not to bring down.
•Focus on others need rather than your own.
•Freely forgive.
•Swallow you pride and say, “I’m sorry”, and “I was wrong.”
•Live your life with a goal of “no regrets”.
•Don’t keep score of what is fair.
•Grace doesn’t condemn or give up on people.
•Grace emphasizes mercy, not justice.
•Read 1 Corinthians 13 regularly.

And for those who wonder

1 Corinthians 13
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Way of Love

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Roots

Here she comes, back to her roots! Mom got several gallons of figs and dropped a few at my doorstep. Figs are a luxury around here and I AIN'T gon' waste 'em. But figs only keep in the fridge for a few days so I froze a gallon or two until I decide what to do with them (recipes anyone?). And with advice from my papaw I'm preserving a pot full. For my first time I'd say they are pretty good, divine actually. I then decided to caramelize a few in honey and butter for dessert, yum. Here's a photo log of my evening...(these pictures won't stay in order for some reason)

(Keen-Wa)

JF and I have been on a health kick lately. Partially to do with wanting a preferred status on our insurance, because we are cheapo, but mainly because we have children and would like to be active with them and live to see a majority of the milestones in their lives.

Because we can't get out much in this Alabama wet heat I have been looking for fat burning, healthy foods to incorporate into our diet. This week it's Quinoa (Keen-Wa). I've replaced all of our pasta and rice dishes with it and found a delicious quinoa chicken and brocolli casserole from they Jey of Cooking blog, http://www.thejeyofcooking.com/cheesy-chicken-and-broccoli-quinoa-casserole/. It tastes just like the classic chicken and brocolli casserole from a typical pastors appreciation lunch (my mom/grandmother never made this and church was the only place I ever ate it) but the quinoa makes it a little more... tooth-some :)

This is her photo, soooo good

Sisters

Its amazing to me the love 2 sisters can share before they even know the definition. I watch my girls growing together and am inspired daily. I can't wait to see how our lives unfold.

Song of the day

Helplessness Blues
-Fleet Foxes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9qUzfozpNs&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Song of the day

Collector by Here We Go Magic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNcRz5BIBFo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Favorite Things at The Moment

Here are a few of my favs right now...

B&B Curl Conscious Creme
Sleep Sheep
Ring Sling for wearable baby
Old Navy flip flops
Pretzels and peanut butter

Birth Story #2

Elie has arrived!! And in grand fashion, I must say. Please forgive the typos, I am using an iPad.

First, let me apologize for not posting an update in almost a year. It has been one CRAZY and exciting year though and I look forward to backtracking a little and plan to post some of the great things that have taken place during my time away.

Now back to Elie, Elizabeth Reeves Yother. She was one week late and trouble from the start ;) My pregnancy with Elie was the exact opposite of my pregnancy with Anna Claire. I was ok with this because I thought for sure she would be an exact opposite newborn and with AC's colicky first 3 months I welcomed a calm #2. I'll talk more about that later. I had naussea and extreme fatigue throughout this pregnancy, especially the last 2 months so when I started having regular and painful contractions at 38 weeks I was overjoyed! Little did I know that the next 3 weeks would be so difficult, for me and JF who took a lot of time off work during these 3 weeks.

I was going through something called prodromal labor. Most ob's call this false labor but there was nothing "false" about my contractions and dilation. I was dilated to 4 centimeters at my 38 week check up, was 70% effaced and the baby was very low. Everyone predicted I wouldn't make it to the next weeks appointment but I did...and the next week and the next. My doula reminded me of all the things I could do to help progression; birth ball, red raspberry leaf tea, evening primrose oil, among other things. I tried them all. Doula Kelly reminded me that if I was having painful, regular contractions to go to the hospital since my first labor and delivery lasted 6 hrs from start to finish (water broke at home with AC which was the first sign of labor I had) and she was concerned that I might not make it to the hospital on time due to 280 traffic. She didn't want me to deliver in the car on the way. So, on Wednesday after my 39 week check I went to the hospital around 7:30 with contractions 3-4 minutes apart. They monitored me for a while, confirmed my contractions and offered to admit me since I was 4 cm. I knew they would try to induce so I decided to go home and since the baby was under no stress they said it was fine to go. I had spells like this every other evening but stayed home because the intensity of the contractions weren't increasing.

Friday of the next week I was having the same symptoms but the contractions were intense. We went to the hospital again and my doula met me there. I had only dilated to 5 cm!!! I was crushed and so emotional because I was exhausted and not sure how much longer I could go through this slow labor. I couldn't sleep through the contractions any more so I was not pleasant to be around and was having a hard time caring for my 17 month old. My mom and JF rotated days to help out with AC and I was more than thankful to be able to rest whenever my contractions had eased. But they admitted me. We walked the halls, used the hospital birthing ball but no progression. We left at 7 am the next morning because i was unwilling to start pitocin. Let me mention that for the past month something kept telling me that Elie would be born on a Monday. But the Monday's kept coming and going and I was running out of Monday's before my ambitions of having another natural birth were crushed under mandatory intervention.

At my 40 week appt my doctor was floored that I hadn't had the baby yet and mentioned we would talk about intervention if I made it to my next appt, which was the following tuesday. I was really starting to worry that I wouldn't be allowed to have a natural birth. I kept doing everything my doula recommended but the days just kept passing. On Monday, the day before my intervention discussion, I was having the same sort of contractions. I insisted on cooking dinner, doing laundry, bathing and putting AC to bed In hopes it would get things going....but nothing. At around 8pm I was eating dinner while bouncing on the birth ball and felt a severe pain. I had to put my plate down and lean over the couch to get through it. I looked at JF and said, this might be it. The next contraction came 1 minute 30 seconds later as I was walking up the stairs to change into my birthing dress, which is a ritual I was used to by now just in case, and the pain was so that I had to rest on the stairs. We called my mom to come over to sit with AC while we went to the hospital but the pain was so fast and so intense that I knew it was go time so we woke her up, packed her in the car and headed to st vincents. We beat my doula and in-laws there who both live really close to the hospital. Mobility makes it easier to cope with labor pains so I refused a wheelchair. And I'm sure the nurses were flipping coins to see who had to take me, the "natural" birth diva with the birthplan and 2 doulas.

We were admitted to a birth suite and JF immediately set up the soft music and tried his best to make the room as calming as possible. The nurse needed to check my dilation but I asked her not to tell me fearing it would psych me out and slow down progression if I wasn't much past a 5. I was in a lot of pain and was trying not to focus on what was going on around me to stay on top of the contractions. The nurses started setting up the baby station and all the tools so I knew we were close, what a relief! With Anna Claire i was able to zone out and ride the waves of my contractions but this time was different! maybe it was because i had been through it before but it was so much harder to get through and I was really wanting the pain to go away!

After about an hour and a half of laboring at the hospital and not progressing fully ( I was 8cm when we arrived at the hospital) the doctor came in to ask if I wanted to have my water broken, he thought it would progress me enough to get to pushing stage. I hesitated at first fearing the pain would be much worse but eventually agreed. By that point I was begging for "the juice" (something I never did during my labor with AC but this time...) so I knew I needed to speed things along. About 30 minutes later I was pushing (against doctors orders but how do you not push?) and 20 minutes later we had a 9 pound 14 ounce baby girl! We were all shocked at her size, 2 lbs more than her sister! It was definitely a more intense labor and delivery but I was so thankful I was finally able to hold my sweet girl.

Song of the Day

Search Amazon.com for neko case

Neko - Neko - Neko

My all-time favorite female singer/songwriter is coming to Bama!!  She performed at Austin City Limits a couple of years back...it was the best show of the festival and the only time I've seen Neko live.  We usually have to travel to see our bands and with the baby we definitely can't pick up and go like we used to so I am so excited and can hardly wait for August.  Neko, here I come! Click on the title of this post to go to Neko's website.

Join me to see an awesome artist for a great cause, Tuscaloosa Tornado Relief, www.tuscaloosaamphitheater.com/event.php?cn=316

Check her out,

Search Amazon.com for Neko Case

Divine Design

The Lord designed womens bodies to bring life into this world. Many of us may not utilize that function but many of us do. Each womans view towards childbearing, birth and rearing is her own. We all have the right to receive this gift individually and to follow the path the Lord lays out for us regarding. I am so proud of the women in my life who are firm in their beliefs yet still accept and encourage those that believe different. We all can learn a little from each other without compromising our big picture.

The Harrow and the Harvest

Gillian Welch just announced the release of her new album in June, The Harrow and the Harvest. It's been a while so I'm anticipating something glorious. Her tour starts May 30th, hopefully I can catch one of her shows. If you havent heard of Gillian or have forgotten her goodness here's a taste

Dexter

Recently JFrank and I have been watching the Crime drama tv series, Dexter, via Netflix instant. I was skeptical at first, being that the show is about a sociopathic serial killer, but after completing the first season I've grown quite fond of Dex. Don't want to be a spoiler so click here to dig deeper, http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_(TV_series).

Song of the Day

Search Amazon.com for donovan

Earthday Freebies!!!*

...and discounts.

Happy Earth Day!!  Here are some Earth Day freebies and discounts that I've run across.

Lowe's- FREE tree seedling
Starbucks- FREE coffee when you bring your own mug
Publix- $1 off select energy efficient light bulbs and FREE reusable bag
Swaddle (Homewood) 20 % off today and Saturday (4-23)

*Go to the Earth Day 2011 website to see how you can help preserve the planet by clicking on the title of this post.

Whats For Dinner

This week we've been cooking from Cooking Lights- Fresh Food Fast, Weeknight Meals.  The following recipe is fast, delicious and healthy.  You only need five ingredients, the rest should be staples, and you can change up the ingredients to suit your taste.

Mini White Pizzas

4 (6-inch) whole wheat pita's
olive oil flavored cooking spray
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced (I used a mandolin)
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup light garlic-and-herbs spreadable cheese (such as Alouette Light)
6 Tbsp Asiago Cheese

1. Preheat broiler
2. Place pitas on a baking sheet; broil for 3 minutes
3. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; coat pan with cooking spray. Add zucchini, onion, pepper, and salt; saute 3 minutes or until veggies are crisp-tender.
4. Remove pitas from oven; and spread 2 Tbsp garlic-and-herb spreadable cheese over each pita. Top evenly with veggies and Asiago cheese. Broil 3 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cheese melts.  Yield: 4 servings. Calories- 272 per pizza.

I added mushrooms to mine.  Sauted them in a dry pan by themselves then added them to the pitas with the other veggies.

You can serve this with an easy Caesar salad- romaine hearts, light caesar dressing, grated Parmesan cheese and croutons. Yum!

Search Amazon.com for cooking light fresh food fast

Song of the Day

Search Amazon.com for Erlend Oye Unrest

Apple and Pear with Cinnamon

Mmm, sounds delicious doesn't it?  Im sure my 6 month old will think so!  This is one of many recipes that are listed in the book Top 100 Baby Puree's by Annabel Karmel gifted to me by my sweet sister-in-law.

It is so easy and much cheaper to buy organic vegetables to make your own baby food...and you know exactly what you are feeding your baby.  Most jarred baby foods have preservatives that some babies have a reaction to.  BoogieYo has a super sensitive stomach and there are only about 3 packaged baby foods that have the ingredient advertised (like carrots) and water.  It gives me peace of mind to make my own food for her, she is definitely worth the extra half hour I spend each week pureeing and freezing her foods.  I steam (you should always cook your fruits and vegetables, except for bananas and avocado's which can be served raw and mashed, when first starting solids and steaming holds in more nutrients than boiling) then puree, then pour the puree into ice cube trays and freeze.  One frozen cube is about 1 ounce, which is about 1 serving for a 5-8 month old.  When she's ready to eat I microwave the frozen cube for about 30 seconds then mix with a little filtered water to thin.  The cube wont be completely thawed but once you add the water and stir is will melt all the way and be room temperature.  She loves it!!

Because she has just started solids we are only serving her steamed and pureed carrots, apples, pears, prunes, peas and soon sweet potatoes individually until her stomach gets used to digesting but in a few weeks she will be ready for 100 more purees!!  I cant wait to make this and the many other recipes for my sweet girl

2 medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped
2 medium pears, peeled, cored and chopped
1/4 cup water
and a Generous pinch of cinnamon

Put the fruit in a saucepan with water and cinnamon.  Cover and cook over low heat for 6 minutes or until tender.  Blend to a smooth puree.  Bring to room temperature and serve.

Stayed tuned for more homemade baby food recipes.

Search Amazon.com for annabel karmel

What's For Dinner

Bacon wrapped chicken fingers with sesame orange Dijon dipping sauce, nyummers nyummers!! Oh, why must bacon make everything better? I got this recipe from the six o'clock scramble and it is so easy!

This is a terrific marinade to use for meat or fish.  As with most marinades, the flavor intensifies the longer you marinate it, so overnight is ideal.  Serve it with Bulgur Pilaf with Grapes and Pecans and steamed green beans.

1 1/2-2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce (use wheat/gluten-free if needed)
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
8 oz. turkey or pork bacon
Cut the chicken breasts into several lengthwise strips about 1-inch wide, and lay them in a flat dish with sides.
In a large measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients except the bacon.  Pour the marinade over the chicken, stir the chicken to coat it, and marinate it, refrigerated, for at least an hour, and up to 24 hours.
When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserve the marinade, and lay the chicken strips on a baking sheet.  Wrap each chicken strip with a strip of bacon, wrapping it from one end to the other, trying to cover as much of the chicken as possible.  (Start the bulgur and green beans now, if you are serving them.)
Bake the chicken for 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through in the thickest part.  While the chicken is cooking, transfer the marinade to a small saucepan and bring it to a boil.  Simmer it for 2-3 minutes to kill any bacteria from the raw chicken.  Transfer the marinade to a small bowl to use as a sauce for the chicken and pilaf.
Scramble Flavor Booster: Add ¼ tsp. black pepper to the marinade.
Tip:
If the bacon isn't crispy after baking the chicken, you can put it all under the broiler for a couple of minutes to crisp it up.

SERVE WITH BULGUR PILAF WITH GRAPES AND PECANS & STEAMED GREEN BEANS
To make the bulgur pilaf, bring 16 oz. reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth or water (or a mixture of broth and water) and 1 cup bulgur wheat to a boil.  Cover and simmer it for 15 minutes.  Remove it from the heat and stir in 1/4 cup halved grapes or whole raisins and 1/4 cup lightly toasted, coarsely chopped pecans.
Trim and steam 1 lb. of green beans for 8 - 10 minutes to desired tenderness.  Drain and serve them plain or seasoned with salt and pepper, or drizzled with fresh lemon juice.

Dallas

Last weekend was our mini vacation in Dallas.  We had great fun with friends and were honored to be a part of the joining in marriage of two wonderful people.  The venue was breathtaking, the food was divine and the bride was absolutely glowing (click on the title of this post, Dallas, for a video clip).  Jennifer and Jarred's wedding was by far the most enjoyable matrimonial event we've attended as guests.   And the photographers were more than happy to snap a photo of us, the first without BoogieYo since our own wedding in 2009. Thank you Jeremey and Life As Art Photography!

This photo was taken at around 1 am.  It was the end of the night after a full day of festivities and we were exhausted.  Just shows how awesome Jeremy and Amber are!  Check out and enjoy their work here, http://www.laaphotography.com/