Don't feel like it but will anyway

I don't actually feel like posting but do want to stay connected and for family reading this I do want them to feel connected.

We have had an average week. Nothing really special going on. Claire is eating a lot and not wanting to take a morning nap but that's it. Three days in a row now she has acted tired but then not gone to sleep when I put her down. The first day I do think she ended up sleeping a few minutes (or at least was totally quiet). Yesterday she didn't nap at all in the morning and today I put her down, she didn't sleep so I got her back up and have now put her back down again- she is laying there but isn't asleep yet (though am hoping she does fall asleep). Not only am I just not ready to give up that time, but most importantly she still needs it- I am a bit of a stickler on making sure she gets enough sleep.

I have also started looking at things for her first birthday which is next month. We are having it at the church after the morning message so am trying to figure out whether to just have cake or try to plan some games and what not, will have to talk to pastor about that though b/c we don't want the afternoon service to be pushed back.

I made baked apple chips today which are very delicious and am glad I made them now so that I can get used to making them as a snack for Claire. I am now off to cook up a large amount of hamburger that I bought yesterday (making mini-meat loafs, then ground beef for lasagna, tacos and chili).

Have a great day,
God Bless,
Lottie

lots of company!

Well, Friday night our pastor and his family came for dinner. Now let me just say that we LOVE our pastor and his family however, they get lost every time they come here! We had a great time with them though.

Then Saturday I went to a children's boutique sale and did well although I wish I had known it was coming b/c I would have saved up and than bought a lot- it was up to 75% off and there were some great deals. I spent 50 dollars on 4 things but look at what I got:





The pink dress was 12 (from 35) and is a possibility for Claire's baby dedication/birthday (through scheduling issues we ended up deciding to wait until her 1 year birthday and dedicate her then). The purple dress is for next summer-10$ (from 50). Then funny thing about the Christmas ones- the reindeer jumper was 12 (from 75) and is for next Christmas. The other jumper with the ornaments was 15 (also from 75) but its a size 5! lol, Brock didn't understand but those of you with kids know what those boutique prices are like and if you can get that kind of a deal its worth saving it!! Plus I figure she can wear it at least 2 years b/c she can wear it as a dress and then as a tunic. Plus its sweater material so its nice and cozy!

I also got my hair cut Saturday and then we went for a walk- where I walked a mile and than ran a mile and a quarter!!! That's a big accomplishment for me- since I used to run but never really loved it.

Sunday was church and then our first neighbors Nick and Tessa came for dinner. We just love them but don't get to see them that often since they bought a house, so it was great to grill out with them.

Today is cleaning and I made some baby food. I won't post tomorrow (Tuesday) b/c we are having more company! Our first baby friends are coming- what I mean is that we met during Lamaze so we feel our girls were sort of first friends! they are only a few weeks apart and we haven't seen them since the class (they thought they were moving but didn't) so anyway we are having a play date. Then in the evening I have my LAST class!!! WOO HOOO!!!

God Bless,
Lottie

lovely lunch

We just had lunch at Brock's office with him and then with Susan (the office manager who has been a great encouragement and friend to me).

We also had to stop at walmart for night time diapers and nipple replacements for our bottles- but here is the stupid thing- they don't make many in the fast and heavy flow size which is what we need. The ones they make just have this tiny little hole and Claire would be way to impatient for that. So we decided to wean from the bottle and just go with a sippy cup. The one I got has a bottle shape but then three different nozzles to transition from one stage to the next. Hopefully that works- she is already just under 11 months so timing wise I am fine- she will still get formula it will just be in a sippy.

Tonight our pastor and his family are coming for dinner and games. That will be lots of fun. Then tomorrow there is a baby boutique sale downtown that I want to go to. Will post later on if I go and what great deals I get!

Hope you have had a good week, and enjoy your weekend,

God Bless,
Lottie

First walking!

Claire in the snow

Claire walked with help!

So last night Claire started walking with her pushcart toy!!!! Up until then she hadn't really shown signs of wanting to move by walking but last night she grabbed that handle and was off!! I don't want to rush walking, but it is very exciting! She can push it all over until she runs into something which means I then have to run over and move her and the cart around so she has a straigtaway again!! She is 10 3/4 month old.

We also had a lovely visit with some of Brocks family last night. Dean and Barb are actually Brock's second cousins I think (his dad's first cousin). THey are on thier way to Florida. It was lovely to see them, we learned some more about the family tree (Brock has started a hobby- Praise the Lord!- of working on his family tree- I like this because it gives him something to do in the evenings after Claire goes to sleep so we can both be working on different things and yet still be in the same room while not being in each others way!). Anyway... Barb knows a bit about the family history so Brock got to add several people to his tree.

In other exciting yet still frustrating news... I am down 12 pounds.... but most of my clothes still dont fit right. I am glad about the 12 pounds but its still so frustrating when I all I want is a basic sweater to wear to the grocery store and yet I still just look fat! I dont' even look pregnant which would be fine (I would rather have people think i look pregnant than just fat!). I am doing well at excercising, I did my hour of kickboxing this morning. I have to keep working on portion sizes and dessert/sugars. I know it will take time and I want it to be a lifestyle change which also takes more time than a "DIET" but still... I want to put on a sweater and not look in the mirror and be disgusted.

Today is grocery shopping day and I don't have much on my list b/c I am hoping to make mostly pantry meals as we are getting too close on our budget. I do couponing but am still not seeing the major savings I would like. So anyone with tips on saving on groceries please pass them on to me!

God Bless,
Lottie

Teeth pain

So it doesn't matter what I do, I could brush and floss every 5 min. and I would still have cavaties. With that said I have had 3 root canals and jsut recently had my first crown. Well this morning was the day I went back to get the final crown (they give you a temporary one so they can make molds and make a proper final one). But it is making my gums hurt like crazy. I am actually going to take some pain pills for it. Plus I only got 5 hours of sleep last night so I am feeling it. Every so often I have nights where I just wake up wide awake- not stressed or anything and just can't get back to sleep. So I am tired and in pain, and I have my special ed class tonight- which wouldn't be so bad but I have already learned what they are teaching... you know how sometimes you take a class and its like "Wow- I learned so much"... well this is not one of those classes- its everything I already took so it feels like a waste of time.

The good news about today is that Claire has been really good and Brock is working from home today (so I could be at the dentist) so at least even though I am really tired he has been here if I needed anything. Plus I find that I just really enjoy when he is home. It used to not bother me if he had to work late or if he traveled but lately I just want the three of us to be home and together all the time now!

Hope you all have a better tuesday than I am.

God Bless,
Lottie

Happy Valentines Day

We had a nice weekend. Didn't go as planned but nice the same. Dennae was going to come watch Claire on Saturday so we could go out but the snow came and we didn't want her on the roads. We did got to Olive Garden- we just took Claire. We were going to go out to eat and then the movies so at least we did get a nice meal.

Olive Garden is sort of a special place for us: it was our first date, and for our first V-day I was working as an RA so I couldn't leave the dorms and Brock picked up OG take-out so we could at least eat a nice meal together so it was sort of fitting that we did that again for this v-day.

Claire was a bit fussy this weekend- I think last week was a bit much for her- between three days of no morning naps and all the people/excitement of the preschool and then revival. She seems a bit better this morning though which is good.

I spent the day cleaning- one of those modes where its not enough to just generally pick up- I wanted to make sure everything had a place and was where it belonged.... it always amazes me how much stuff it seems we have and we don't even really like having lots of belonging... its just all the little things that accumulate.

Sweet moment of the day:Claire spent several minutes playing with a baby doll this afternoon. It was just fun to watch her.

Hope you all had a lovely Valentines Day!
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Crazy week-sorry for not posting

Ok, Sorry for not posting, I do really plan to post regularly but this week got crazy!

Last weekend we spent Saturday just hanging out and I had some stuff to get ready for Sunday. Then Sunday started Revival services so we spent all day there.

Monday I subbed at Heiskell (the preschool where I worked before Claire came). They let me take Claire which is fantastic. She loves it b/c its so interesting to have new toys and people. It is hard to manage a baby and 12 four year olds but the other teachers help and Claire is so good that she makes it pretty easy. Then revival at night.

Tuesday was the same except that Brock took Claire to revival while I went to my special ed class which will keep my certificate current. (btw, only 2 more weeks to go and one assignment!)

Wednesday was the same. It was hard to work in the morning, take care of home stuff in the afternoon and then being out at night. I did a bit of cooking for the evangelists too so it was a crazy busy week for us. I do have a new found respect for working moms. At the same time, I am SOOO thankful that I get to stay home.

One of the messages during revival sort of centered on keeping our homes as a haven and I that is what I want. I could work, and I know myself enough to know that everything would get done and done fairly well b/c I am a perfectionist like that, but...I would be stressed and tired and our home would not be a place of rest and peace. I want my children and husband to feel that our home is a place of rest and a haven from the stress of the world. Thank you Brock for working so hard so that I don't have to.

Thursday was grocery shopping day and now finally Friday, just catching up on the housework and other things that needed to be done. Btw, Claire is working on a 3 hour nap which has been nice b/c I was able to do some baking, made some baby food, and cleaned the bathroom (I had to scrub the floor behind the toilet--- its my LEAST favorite job ever and it was getting bad so I HAD to do it!).

Tomorrow Brock and I are going out on a date! Dennae is going to come watch Claire and we are using some gift certificates (thank you Sandra!!) to go to Olive Garden and the movies. WOOO HOO!!

I hope you all had a good week and have a great weekend. (I will try to post but weekends are family time so it may or may not happen!- if it doesn't- Happy Valentines Day!)

Afterschool muffins

THese are super wonderful muffins, they are really pretty healthy and easy to make.

Afterschool Muffins (from Raisin Bran)

1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon- mix together to sprinkle on top of muffins

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder

3 cups raisin bran
1 1/4 cup milk
1 egg*
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup chocolate chips

mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder- set aside

in large bowl mix raisin bran and milk- let sit for a min until cereal softens.
add egg, oil and choc chips, mix well.
add flour mixture until just combined

these make great mini muffins too but the recipe says 12 muffin cups coated with non-stick spray but I always end up with more so plan on either 1 and half batches of big muffines or 1 tray of big and 1 tray of mini.

My MIL just told me the greatest egg substitute too- mix 1 tablespoon flax seed meal with 3 tablespoons water and let sit a min. - makes the sub for one egg. (I tried it in some bread today and it worked great) Gives you some extra fiber and no cholesterol!

Sweet moment with Claire

Claire spent some time today playing with the shoe bench. She pulled the shoes out then tried to put them back in. It was just one of those sweet times where you watch your baby and are just amazed that God would grant you the privledge of being thier mother. I think heaven must include time where you can replay these moments and be reminded of all the sweet times with your children.

Lemon no bake creamy cheesecake

I forgot I was going to post the super easy cheesecake recipe-

18 graham crackers- finely crushed (about 2 3/4 cups) Or cheat like me and just use a graham cracker crust from the store (I had gotten one on clearance otherwise I would grind up my own crust)

to make the crust- mix the crackers with 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted melted butter and 1/4 cup sugar.

Spray an 8x8 pan with nonstick spray and press half the crust mix in, refrigerate 1 hour.

While that is working make the filling:
1 (8oz) package lite cream cheese- softened
2 cups milke (I used 1% and it was fine)
1 (3.4 oz) package instant lemon pudding ---- now notice the 3.4 oz size becuase I didn't and only got the 1 oz size and had to use regular vanilla to make up the difference- which means i can only imagine how lemony and yummy it would have been with all lemon! I also used the sugar free version which makes this dessert really not all that bad.

blend the cream cheese and 1/2 cup milk until no clumps then add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of milk and the pudding mix, beat 1-2 min until smooth and it thickens a bit.

pour pudding mixture over crust and sprinkle with remaining graham cracker crumbs. refrigerate at least 3 hours or until set.


Now as I stated, you can use lite cream cheese, milk and sugar free instant pudding to cut calories. also you don't have to sprinkle the remaining on the top and really you probably don't have to add sugar to the crust either- just depends on how sweet you want it.

It was super easy and very yummy! Enjoy!

Lazy Friday

So no post yesterday b/c I just didn't have the time. I did do the grocery shopping but also spent a bit of time organizing a home binder. Others have a done a great job of putting together a home management binder- with everything needed to run their homes and while mine is not much compared to what they have done I am trying to work on it. It is a basically a place to compile all the things needed in your home. Mine has mostly articles and clippings I have found, and some recipes. So in mine I have stuff like- diet plans/exercises, holiday ideas, home decor, baby articles.

I pulled most of the recipes out though and am going to keep them in an accordion file b/c I was getting too many. I clip them from magazines or any that I print. I have decided I need to start really trying new menu items. One (of the MANY!) goals of staying home was to become a better cook. Thus my goal is at least one new recipe a week. So last night instead of plan turkey chili, I made chili pie- its basically the chili with cornbread mix on top then baked. It was ok except I forgot the beans (Brock was ok with that though as he isn't a big fan of beans but I was very disappointed!). Also, I was using shredded turkey and I really think it would have been better with hamburger as the recipe called for. I also made a super easy no bake cheesecake which I will list at the bottom of this post.

So anyway, between grocery's and organizing yesterday I didn't find time for this. Today is truly a lazy Friday. Brock is working the late shift- 11-8. So we had a lazy morning, blueberry pancakes, I got a few things done while he played with Claire and now he is at work, she is still napping and I had time to have a cup of tea. It is perfect tea weather too- it's cold and rainy.

OH, big news (and I will post more about this later) but I am "getting healthy" (I don't want to say diet b/c this is a a lifestyle change) but anyway, I hit the 10 pound mark!!! It took one month but I lost the first 10 pounds. My goal is between 50-60. When I hit 50 I will be happy but 60 is like the ultimate goal.

Well, I want to crochet a bit before Claire wakes up from her nap so have a lovely Friday everyone,

God Bless,
Lottie

Wacky Wednesday?

No it wasn't really wacky but Claire did not want to sleep as she normally does- although she is finally down for her afternoon nap. Wednesay's are coupon/getting ready day. It takes me a while to get my lists done and it is impossible with her awake (b/c she wants to grab at the coupons!). I start by going to thegrocerygame.com and southernsavers.com to print a list of what's on sale (these both match what is on sale with the coupons from the paper). You have to pay for the grocery game and I did actually just cancel my subscription because southernsavers does it free. The format of thegrocerygame is easier but they don't match the new dates for the penny item at Publix so it isn't really useful. The penny item is a deal at publix- on thursday (or some wednesday's depending on where you live) if you spend 10$ before coupons you get a special deal for a penny. For example this week its sugar so I will buy 10 dollars worth BEFORE coupons and get sugar for a penny. Since this deal is only available that is why I go grocery shopping on Thursdays. Anyway, after I print the lists of coupon/sales then I make my menu for the week (based if I can on what's on sale). I then pull out my coupons and get everything ready. I will post more on coupons later- such as how I organize them. For me this takes most of the day b/c as I said I can only do it when Claire is napping.

In other news- we walked today. By that I mean I pushed Claire around and up all the huge hills in our apartment complex. The hills here are huge and it is a full workout to walk them all. I also just picked up and am about to go get ready for church.

Also, funny Claire story- so most moms have a cabinet of tupperware for thier babies. Claire of course has one and she likes it- in fact she likes it so much that today she climbed IN the cupboard! It was really funny (unfortunatly the camera didn't work so I didn't get a picture) but it was great. She just looked at me like "what is so funny mommy?"!

God Bless,
Lottie

Tuesday- laundry day

Today is laundry day. I have the first load in the dryer, one in the wash and one waiting to go in. Now maybe I am not doing enough laundry but I am confused about how some people can do laundry EVERY day? Either they are exaggerating or they are very messy! Honestly I can see where once we have more than one child the laundry would add up but those who do it every day I just don't get. Maybe that's b/c I don't want to do laundry everyday though. I don't mind it but I don't want to do it everyday. I just don't like the hanging stuff up part- I don't even mind folding, I just don't like hanging things up. So what tends to happen is that I pull out the things that need to be hung up after they are dry and lay them out but then who knows they they will actually get hung up! I just hung up clothes from last weeks laundry. I put everything else right away- I just don't like taking the time to put them on a hanger and hang them up...I know that sounds strange and lazy but that's just the way it is.


In other news, I am making Amish friendship bread today. I will post more about that in about 10 days b/c I found a way to make less of it (you make a batch but then have some left that you can give away or you have to throw it away) so I want to try it out first but if it works I will post how you do it. Today I am actually making four loaves of it b/c I am going to take some to my "exceptional child" class that I have to take to keep my teaching certificate currant. It is a sweet bread so seeing as how I am trying to loose weight I don't want it in the house! However, it is very tempting as the house smells AMAZING!! I will have to have a slice with a cup of tea later today. It is rainy and cold and the perfect day for some tea and sweet bread.

We got to skype with Grandma and Grandpa Haiderer yesterday. I am so glad they got to see Claire and she gets to see them. It's hard to be so far away from family but this way they can still get to know her. She showed them her toy bin, how she can crawl and stand up and how she loves her alphabet blocks. We spent about a half hour with them. Thank the Lord for the wonderful technology that lets us stay connected.

well, back to the laundry, bread and keeping a 10 month old entertained!
God Bless,
Lottie

Basic Monday- weekly schedule

So our Monday has pretty much followed our schedule. I cleaned/organized a bit, did the shredding, organized a kitchen rack and vacuumed. Also took care of some business phone call things, Claire has napped and played and in all it has been a nice relaxing day. I should have cleaned the bathroom today but didn't get a chance b/c I really prefer to do that when Claire is napping and I was doing other things, so it will have to be done tomorrow.

I posted a basic daily schedule yesterday but also want to post our weekly schedule (this will help some of you know the best days to get a hold of us).

Monday- cleaning - picking up, the bathrooms, vacuuming.
Tuesday- Laundry and any other cleaning
Wednesay- getting ready for shopping day on thursday- this means making my list, sorting my coupons and getting them all ready to go. (more on couponing later- as I have info and also want help b/c I know I could be saving even more).
Thursday-grocery day- it takes about two hours (I go to Publix, Kroger and sometimes Walgreens). I like to go after Claire's morning nap so usually between 12:20-2:30/3 is when we end up going.
Friday- catch up day- any other things that need to be done, cleaning, getting ready for the weekend.
Saturday is flexible, it just depends what we have going on.
Sunday- Church from 9:30-2- our church does sunday school 10-11, then service 11-12, then we serve a lunch from 12-1 and then have an afternoon service from 1-2. When we get home its nap time/spend time together.

I believe that staying home should be a joy and a ministry which means I like to not be super busy all the time, the most important things I can do for Claire right now is to keep her on a schedule and to meet her needs of play and learning.

Well, off to make a salad for dinner- we are having spaghetti, salad, and breadsticks. Hope you all have a lovely Monday.

God Bless,
Lottie