Our little caboose is our wild flower; beautiful and able to stand on her own; delicate yet strong. We were excited to welcome a girl into our hearts and lives and she doesn’t disappoint. From her dancing as a young toddler to singing her night time bible songs it is so fun to watch her beautiful spirit.
It was exciting to find out we were pregnant with a girl for we, grandparents and the boys would have a baby sister. Amanda had been using oils and more natural approaches to health. With the experience of pregnancy and birth of our boys, things went smoothly over all. Kelly, our midwife had delivered our third and we appreciated her calm support. We looked forward to listening to her growing heartbeat and going to get a sonogram with the boys so we could all see her for the first time.
It is always exciting when the arrival is near, Amanda was having consistent strong contractions and called our photographer Anna and our midwife Kelly to let them know. We were expecting her soon but like any wildflower you don’t usually pick the time or place and M wasn’t quite ready yet. A few days later Amanda was having strong consistent contractions again but wasn’t sure if it was time yet. We waited patiently and anxiously (well daddy was anxious at least). We didn’t want to call Anna and Kelly on a false alert again so we timed contractions and waited. When I saw Amanda on her knees rocking her hips I knew this was the time. We called Anna and Kelly and let them know and they headed our way.
I filled the birth tub and began boiling water because we needed lots of hot water to add to the birth tub with #3s birth. The boys were in bed and everything was calm, although our dog Lily knew something was going on. Amandas contractions were getting stronger and closer and she moved to the birthing tub.
After a few minutes and more contractions Amanda said “You’re gonna have to help me.” I really didn’t know what she meant other than supporting her during contractions but I soon realized M was coming out! I helped catch her and hold her in the birth tub with my head whirling. We had the experience of the other births so once she was out I was focused on holding her, then cradling and holding her head above the water once she was up and out and untangling her cord. Her little cry was a welcome sound knowing her lungs were strong. Amanda asked if it really was a girl (since we were used to having boys). I was so focused on holding her up, unwrapping the cord and welcoming another baby I didn’t even check if it was a girl!
While holding our new little girl I helped Amanda get positioned outside the birth tub, still attached with the umbilical cord. I called Kelly who was still delayed in heavy rain to let her know Baby was here. She said she could hear M crying in the background so she said all is good. Amanda and I enjoyed a few moments of just us with our new joy.
After Kelly arrived I cut the umbilical cord, we measured and weighed her. I got the 3 boys up in the middle of the night to welcome her. They were all excited to meet their sister and hold her. Soon we were all back to resting for the night and beginning our journey of 6.
Parmesan crusted chicken is another easy favorite recipe in our house. It’s what’s for dinner tonight!
Ingredients:
1/2c mayo
1/4c grated Parmesan cheese
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4tsp Italian bread crumbs or croutons (I use Brenton gf herb crackers)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425. Combine mayo with cheese. Arrange chicken on baking sheet(I usually pound them a little if they’re thick) Evenly top with mayo mixture and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake about 20min or until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Serves 4.
Recipes that all my men, little and big enjoy and are relatively easy, healthy and inexpensive to make are always a big hit with me. This one is definetly one of those. I found it in a Taste of Home magazine years ago which the pages of are now well worn, crumpled and stained so I figured I would post it on the blog for safe keeping at to share with you of course. 🙂
Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
1/4c chopped onion
1 16oz can Refried beans
1 15oz can mild chili beans
1 14oz can mexican stewed tomatoes(drained)
1c salsa
1 envelope low sodium taco seasoning
1tsp dried oregano
1tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1-1/4c shredded Monterey Jack
1-1/4c shredded part skim mozz
3/4c small curd cottage cheese
1-1/4c sour cream, divided
9 lasagna noodles
Cook beef and onion over med heat until meat is no longer pink and drain. Stir in beans, tomatoes, salsa, chili and seasonings.
In a bowl, combine Monterey Jack and Mozzarella cheeses, set aside 1 1/2c. Stir cottage cheese and 3/4c sour cream into remaining cheese mixture.
Spread 1c meat sauce into a greased 13x9x2in baking dish. Later with three noodles and a third of the cottage cheese mixture and meat sauce. Repeat layers twice (dish will we full) cover and bake at 350 for 1hr
Uncover, spread with remaining sour cream. Sprinkle it’s reserved cheeses. Bake 10-12min longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 20min before serving.
You can also make this in the crockpot by layering it as usual and cooking it on low 4-5 hours.
Every child and every birth is unique. I’d been told this many times by several people but I’m one of those people that likes to plan things and birthing babies, especially on their own time, is far from predictable. Little brother was no exception.
I had been nauseous more with this pregnancy than the other two and extremely tired in the beginning but thanks to a supplement from my chiropractor the rest of the pregnancy I felt much better and had more energy than I had in my previous pregnancies. Unfortunately my first midwife from our previous homebirth was pursuing other interests so I had to choose a new midwife for this birth and around 36 weeks I had to switch midwives again due to several concerns we had with her. Thankfully after this hiccup, things with our new midwife went very well. On that note let me just say, trust your gut instinct, do your research, pray and ask questions. No matter the type of birth or something completely unrelated, it’s never too late to make changes if need be. Deep down you will know what choices you need to make for yourself and your family.
Friday, October 10th, our 3rd sons due date came and went without any sign of labor. Knowing little dude’s personality now and his name meaning peace, this is no surprise. He’s been a laid back guy from the get go. Saturday morning around 7:00am I had gotten up to use the bathroom and then laid back down. Shortly after that, my other sons were calling me to help them with breakfast so I got up again and when I did I felt a decent amount of fluid trickle out. I was thinking it was odd that I might have peed my pants since I had just gone to the bathroom. Then I realized this was probably more than a weak bladder, this was what we were waiting for! I texted my midwife to let her know and she asked if I needed anything or wanted her to come and asked what color the fluid was that was trickling out. The fluid was clear with no sign of infection or meconium so I told her I was good and that I’d let her know if things started progressing. Sometimes these things can take awhile and I preferred not to have someone sitting around waiting for something to happen.
Not much changed throughout the morning. I would have a contraction and trickle here and there but nothing more. That afternoon my midwife came by to check on me and the baby and by then I was starting to wonder why things hadn’t picked up. With our last birth things had progressed quite quickly so this was very different. Meanwhile my husband had decided to run some errands and take our other two boys with him so I could rest and since I had some pretty strong regular contractions for a bit he decided to take them to their grandparents thinking we would be having a baby by that evening. Not so though. Throughout the night I would have contractions here and there and was starting to get anxious wondering what was taking so long but my midwife was checking in periodically and said the baby’s heartbeat was good and my temp was normal so there was no cause for concern. She did suggest I take some supplements including vit c and garlic ect to help keep my immune system up which I had already started doing on my own earlier in the day as a preventative. Although my water was leaking, this was not an immediate emergency. Running straight to the hospital can actually put yourself and baby at a greater risk of infection. 90% of the time, labor will start within 48hrs of your water breaking. Plus our body will continue making amniotic fluid. Unless you are showing signs of infection or your baby is in some kind of danger there is no reason to speed up the process. It’s also best to avoid vaginal exams if possible because this pushes bacteria into the cervix, however this is usually the first thing they want to do at the hospital and with the increased risk of infection, they will have to put you on a time limit. Usually this is 12hrs-24hrs at the most.
The next morning my husband and I did start discussing what we would do if nothing progressed. As long as baby I were doing well we really had another 24hrs or so before needing to talk about making other arrangements but we wanted to plan ahead just in case. We decided to take the rest of the day while the boys were still at their grandparents to make it a day of relaxing and unwinding since I was starting to get uptight with everyone asking if anything was happening 😉 We decided to stop by our midwives assistants house to let her check everything over again and everything was still good. In fact I had a contraction while I was there and the baby’s heartbeat did not show any signs of stress. We headed to eat dinner and by this time I had several regular strong contractions in the car on the way. After dinner we got back to the house and our assistant brought by a bag of supplies and gave me some Clary Sage essential oil for my belly and diffuser. My contractions really picked up in strength after that and by then my bro in law had brought the boys back home and while getting them tucked in bed I had to stop to rock my hips and breathe a couple of times. By this time it was after 9:00pm and my birth team and I were thinking it might be time to fill up the pool. I had to stop several more times again to concentrate on my contractions and by 10:00 or 10:15pm I started feeling the urge to push and decided to get in the pool. I was having some pretty strong contractions to push but wasn’t feeling like much progress was happening. After quite awhile of this, my midwife and I decided to do a check and could feel the cervix was still partially across his head. My midwife had me get in some different positions to try to help move him down including sitting on the toilet but he still wasn’t budging much. By this time I was starting to get pretty tired and frustrated because I had been pushing for close to 1 1/2hrs at this point so I got back into the pool and leaned back instead of squatting and it actually felt like a decent position which hadn’t been comfortable for me with my two previous births. I started pushing with all my might as my midwife pushed back on the cervix. I finally could feel him progressing down although it was taking all my strength to move him. After about 15min of this, little mans head finally crowned and we could see he had his arm above his head which was probably what had taken so long for my labor to become regular since his head wasn’t completely engaged.
Although this birth was more drawn out than our previous births, I would do it the same way all over again. He was worth the wait and we loved being able to relax and enjoy his first sweet moments with him and his brothers in the familiar surroundings of our home sweet home 🙂
We love to drink lemonade especially when we’re feeling a little crummy. Lemon and garlic are great for detoxing, boosting the immune system and as an anti-bacterial.
Here’s all you need:
8 c water
1 1/2 c lemon juice (Costco has bottled organic lemon juice)
1 c sugar or preferably stevia or honey to taste since sugar lowers the immune system
5 crushed/pressed garlic cloves
Then just mix all ingredients together and drink warm or cold. Ta-da! 🙂
For those who like to hear updates on our fixer upper home purchase here ya go.
In the spring of 2012 we sold our home and were renting a house right down the street on a month to month basis. With the sale of our house we were completely debt free with money in savings. More on that here and here. For 6 months we searched high and low for a house in our price range that could accommodate equipment for our business and room for our growing family. We were agonizing over how to branch our business off and looking at house after house and several fixer uppers with two little kids in tow. Most of the fixer uppers needed a little too much fixing up for what we already had to keep up with. I wanted something decently liveable since we already had two kids and my husband wanted a good priced fixer upper with lots of potential and somewhere we could see ourselves living for awhile. I had no idea it would end up being over an hour away on the opposite side of town from where we were living and where most of our business income was but God had a plan as He always does.
In the fall of 2012 we found a house that had alot of things on our list and decided to make an offer. After much haggling back and forth and some issues with loan complications, we were finally able to sign the papers. We had decided to go ahead and purchase this home by way of loan but plan to pay it off early.
We knew that the house had some foundation work done in the past and needed some other things that we happened to have the equipment for since we own a landscape company. However you never fully know what you’re getting into until you move in and start trying to tackle projects. The back patio had sunk in and was pushing against the foundation which the previous owners had decided to just build a deck over the top of, so those two things were the first to go. There were also two large trees growing way too close to the house and sidewalk in the front and back so we cut those down. We had hoped to get our geothermal heat system installed sometime in 2013 but that was put on hold for solar panels before the rebate program ended. We were able to get a rebate for most of the cost and the rest my husband was able to trade work for. We have had no electric bill since they hooked them up in May and got our first one just this month. It was still only about 1/3 of the cost of our bill this time last year. The siding and garage doors were showing signs of rot so DH was once again able to trade out some work to get new doors installed this summer and the siding is on the list for future projects. Once again we were planning to get the geothermal heating put in this fall/winter but a recent water line break in our front yard opened a whole new can of worms. My husband decided to dig all the way down along the foundation since they were already digging for the water line. This uncovered multiple issues that needed to be tackled with the foundation, sewer lines running uphill, drainage pipes around the base of the foundation completely collapsed and full of mud and the ground under the garage floor had sunk. He decided to seal the foundation while it was already uncovered, backfill the 8ft “moat” that was now running the perimeter of the front of our house with 70tons of gravel, rerun the sewer lines at the right angle (poop does not flush uphill very well) and add a sump pump to the garage. Next on the list, unless something more pressing doesn’t happen first, will be repouring the garage floor and driveway. There has been more mud and dirt covering our yard, driveway, the kitchen floor and my boys than I’m pretty sure I’ve seen, like ever. However my consolation prize is when they finally get the new stone sidewalk and drive put it it’s gonna look purty sweet 😉 ..plus the supplier already told us he’d supply the stone for our house for an awesome deal, so it will only cost a fraction of what it would otherwise.
This week they’ve taken a little break with the outside projects and almost have the upstairs woodstove installed. We already have a woodstove downstairs and a fireplace in the living room but need something in the dining area to help the fireplace keep up. Pictures do not do it justice but here’s some anyway and hopefully I can keep you updated as they happen.
Not only is bone broth loaded with tons of vitamins and minerals, it helps with digestion and boosts the immune system, its also super easy and inexpensive to make. Use the bones from healthy farm raised animals to get the most benefit. I usually make mine from organic whole chickens from Costco or the beef bones of our local farmers grass fed cows.
You can use your crockpot to cook the whole chicken or bone in beef, soup bones ect then after it’s done and we’ve eaten the meat or removed it, I throw the chicken carcass or bones right back in the crockpot and cover with water and add about 2 Tbs of Apple Cider Vinegar(the acv helps “leach” the minerals out of the bones) You can also add celery, carrots, parsley ect for flavor especially if you’re planning to just drink the warm broth but otherwise I wait and add whatever vegetables I will need when I cook the meal I’m using it for. You will want to let it cook for about 24hrs. If you see foam on the top in the first couple of hours of cooking, scoop this out. This is impurities that are coming out. I usually get little to none of this using the meat sources that we do. After it’s done, let it cool slightly and strain the bones and meat out so that all you have is the broth. You can keep this in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze it for later. The remaining bones that are left have been cooked so long I am able to feed them to the dog and chickens so absolutely nothing is wasted! So there you have it. Easy peasy, nutritious food for your family 🙂
I’ve mentioned before, I keep several egg recipes on hand for when our girls are producing more eggs than we can use in a regular day. This recipe makes an easy fun protein snack for home or a delicious twist on deviled eggs for a party!
Ingredients:
12 eggs
1/2 c mayo
4 slices bacon
2 Tbs finely shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tbs mustard
Boil enough water to cover eggs. Place eggs in boiling water for 8 min. When eggs have finished boiling cover in cold water and let cool. Meanwhile cook bacon in large skillet. Crumble and set aside.
Peel the boiled eggs and cut in 1/2 lengthwise. Remove yolks and mash with mayo, bacon and cheese. Stir in mustard. Fill egg white halves with the yolk mixture and refrigerate until serving time.
This summer I decided to restart our account again with Door to Door Organics. We live out a ways from the farmers markets and I’m so busy with business work, homeschooling and the littles that for the price of the food and the time saved for me it’s a great deal; not to mention the boys are always hungry so having some fresh food midweek keeps their tummies full of nutritious food without having to make another trip out. This week we got chard, lettuce, pomegranate, grapefruit, apples, bananas, carrots, pears and avocados. I get the medium delivery with veggies and fruits and usually additionally order the organic wraps, Stoneyfield organic yogurt and some cheese since our Price Chopper in town doesn’t carry much as far as organic foods go. You can also sub out 5 items for different ones if you don’t want everything in the standard order for the week. I love that our boys get excited to see what we got in our box for the week and momma is thankful to have a hand in keeping our family well fed!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our wonderful family, friends and readers! We enjoyed a delightful family service together on Christmas Eve and grabbed some mexican food on the way home from a delicious restaurant in town that was actually still open…. Although I hate when people have to work on the holidays I’m thankful they were open because in getting cookies ready to make for after the service and food preparations for Christmas Day I had failed to plan dinner for Christmas Eve and had a hungry crew on my hands.
Christmas morning we all woke up and read My First Story of Christmas to the boys in our bed and then let them open their packages. We don’t spend alot of money on the kids or ourselves at Christmas because we have more than we need as it is and we don’t want that to be our focus. We also try to spend the same amount or more on a few other families that could use a little extra, especially this time of year.
The day was quite busy with cleaning and such before family arrived as our yard, drive and my kitchen floor have been caked in a layer of mud and dirt the last couple of weeks due to the construction projects going on at our house right now. (more on that to come) We hope you all had a good season and year and especially to those family and friends we wont see over the holidays; we miss your face and hope you’re well! Wishing you and your family many blessings in the New Year!
For those who like to hear updates on our fixer upper home purchase here ya go.
