30 Weeks Pregnant and Haiti

Wow! I have been pregnant for 28 weeks and it feel like only 8 weeks! Seriously this has been one easy pregnancy. I thought Jake's was easy, but this one beats being pregnant with him by far! I haven't had any problems except for a little heartburn, but that one's my fault for eating acidic foods I know I should stay away from!
I would like to post a picture of my belly but I don't have one on hand right now so I will save that for when I am bigger!
What I would like to ask for all my readers to do for me over the next couple of week is to pray for Joe and me. We will be flying out to Haiti on December 28th and will be gone until Jan 5th. We have been planning this trip for a year now and when I found out I was pregnant in July I immediately changed my plans to go knowing I would be going into my 30th week of being pregnant and didn't want to risk catching some weird disease, get sick, being uncomfortable sleeping on a floor for 8 nights, or go into pre-term labor in a third world country!  After praying about it and reading half of "The Hold in our Gospel" I felt convicted by my fears and told God if he wanted me to go to Haiti to provide the funds for me to go and I would willingly go! I can lie! I was scared after I told him that because right away I felt God tell me, "really Melissa? That is it? All I have to do is give you the money to go and you will go? Done!" Ahhhhhhh! Thankfully I am not scared anymore! I just know I am going to miss my son like crazy!
I am most excited about the company we will be traveling with! There are only 5 of us going but two of them we hiked many miles with on the AT and haven't seen them since before we finished the trail. We love them dearly and ask for you to pray for them as well. I know God is going to work in some pretty powerful ways for all of us and hopefully in even more ways for the people we will be helping! I am unsure of all the details as far as what exactly we will be doing while we are there but that doesn't really matter because whatever it is will be for the Kingdom and we are excited to help in anyway we can! I hope to update you while there but I know the internet service is very unstable so you may not hear form me until after we return. Thanks for your prayers!

working mom or stay at home mom?

Which one are you and why? I don't really need to know why but I just thought I'd start my blog with a question. I certainly don't care either way what one women decides vs. another when it comes to working, or staying at home with the kids. I do care what God thinks about my decisions and my reasoning behind staying at home with Jake.
I encourage you to take some time to read a blog I found yesterday that covers this topic so much better than I ever could. Even if you aren't married and don't have kids yet I still encourage you to read because one day you probably will be married and with children. The bloggers name is Kristi and she lives in Oregon and has 5 kids, 3 of those being 4 year old triplets! She has been married to her husband for 12 years and has been a stay at home mom for the last 11 years. She loves the Lord and strives to serve him in the way God has created her to live as a wife and mom. I was glued to her post like a fly on fly paper! I am very passionate about being a mama! I love my one on one time with Jake and the same will be true for the next bundle of joy. I do not miss working a full time job one bit. The stresses that come with being a mom are so much more rewarding than earning a income for me.
I hope you take the time to read. Maybe you can share your thoughts with me about it, so long as we can be civil in our words.
She also has some other great posts about parenting and marriage etc. I hope you get the chance to browse a little on her site.
I love to read on the thoughts of other moms, especially those who have been a mom much longer than a few years, have older kids and have had a happy successful marriage for 10 plus years. I have a much easier time taking her words to heart than someone not as experienced in the mommy department. I only say that because I know that one moms opinion over another doesn't make them an expert in parenting and marriage but it does say a lot when you see how successful one is because they cares nothing more than how God views her and her family. We are all learning and we all make mistakes because we are human, but that doesn't excuse us from modeling what the Bible teaches to others and especially our own kids!

Here are the links for you:
http://www.courageoushomekeeping.com/featured/is-it-a-sin-to-work-outside-the-home-part-1/
http://www.courageoushomekeeping.com/featured/is-it-a-sin-to-work-outside-the-home-part-2/
http://www.courageoushomekeeping.com/featured/is-it-a-sin-to-work-outside-the-home-part-3/
http://www.courageoushomekeeping.com/featured/is-it-a-sin-to-work-outside-the-home-part-3/
http://www.courageoushomekeeping.com/featured/is-it-a-sin-to-work-outside-the-home-part-4/
http://www.courageoushomekeeping.com/featured/is-it-a-sin-to-work-outside-the-home-part-5/

Cookies Favorites

I plan to bake several different types of cookies for the holidays. I better get on it since Christmas is right around the corner. Here is what I plan to make!
Carmels 
Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Ginger Cookies
Peanut Butter Balls (Buck Eyes)
Christmas Holly Wreaths (my favorite and so simple) Except I add 1/2 tsp of almond flavor to mine
I have already made the Holly Cookies! One down 4 to go! I have never made carmels before, or any other type of candy so it will be more of an experiment for me.
Now if I could only get on top of my Christmas shopping for Joe. I am such a procrastinator when it comes to Christmas!

So much for a good nights rest

Instead of ranting about my terrible nights sleep on Facebook I decided I would rant a little on my blog just because I have nothing else I want to write about at this moment and my son is sitting next to me on the couch watching Baby Santa, eating Cherrios and acting as if he had nothing to do with my terrible night! Grrrrrrr.
Joe and I headed to Anderson, IN(our previous place of residency) to speak with a lady about our house we have been trying to sell. She really wants to live there for the rest of her life so this could possibly be our buyer! Anyway, after a great conversation with her and a fantastic dinner at our favorite mexican joint we headed home to watch The Office and wash and cut up the two deer that Joe killed last week. 10pm rolled around and I was feeling tired but continued to help Joe for a while longer knowing that if I was at least in bed by 11pm I would get a decent 7-8 hours of sleep before Jake woke up.
Think again! I love my son a bunch, but when there is no reason for him to wake up at 2am and keep me up until 4am and then wake up again at 6am, sometimes I just wish my baby monitor would break in the middle of the night so I didn't have any way of hearing him. I kept thinking he had pooped, or thrown up(the flu is going around like mad around here), or that he was cold. I think he just had a bad case of the "be a pain the butt so mom doesn't get any rest" bug! Well it is now 8am and he is acting perfectly fine! What the crap! I lost 4 hours of sleep for what? I have MOPS in an hour and now I am not sure I should go because he lost a good 2-3 hours of sleep and if he is coming down with something I don't want him to pass it on or end up throwing up the nursery at church. Decisions, decisions! Being a mom of a toddler and at the same time pregnant is EXHAUSTING! Can I get an AMEN!

Some fun pictures of me and Jake playing together. Helps remind me there are more good days then bad being a mom!

Christmas Traditions to get started on

What kid doesn't just love this time of year. The lights, the Christmas tree, Santa Claus(well I never cared for him), presents, baby Jesus birthday, Christmas movies and music, and who can forgot all the sweets! Gotta love this time of year. I have been so rotten at keeping Christmas traditions alive since getting married. Not because I don't like traditions, but I haven't felt a deep desire to do all the work when it was just Joe and me. Now that we have a one year old my joy of traditions is working it's way back into my heart. I hope to pass on that same joy to Jake for family traditions. It is such a peaceful time of year for me, aside from all the parties and meals we share with others, I love to sit on my couch with a cup of tea, all the lights turned off, except for our tree and village and enjoy the peaceful glow that fills the room.
I researched Advent Calendars last night for a few hours, trying to find the perfect calendar either to buy or make. I am not a crafty person at heart. I want to be so I think I have pretty much settle on making my own Advent Calendar Banner for next year. Click here for the picture Advent Calendar
I am very excited about it. I have no idea how to sew but lucky for me I have several friends that sew and my mom, and mother-in-laws to help me get started on it. To go along with the calendar I am keeping my eyes out for a good Advent devotional book for kids that we can read to Jake.
I also really want to purchase a nice Nativity Set. Not the tacky kids ones that won't break, but one I can put on the mantle of my gas fireplace. I love willow tree but I will never want to spend that much money on one. They must be crazy! 300 plus bucks just to be displayed for a month!
Last but not least we WILL be hanging outside lights on the house next year! Every year I don't do it I regret it and I will not deprive my kids of not being able to enjoy watching their dad hang lights out in the freezing cold while we watch from the front window drinking our hot chocolate! Ha Ha! Just kidding Joe! My sister's and I did that to our dad a few times he waited a few weeks too long to hang them when the weather was nice out. Gotta love Dads! They will do just about anything for their little girls! Thanks Dad for filling up our hearts with so much love just with hanging a few lights on the house. Thanks Mom for putting up with the Christmas crabbies each year when we would decorate the tree and bake/decorate cookies. Loved every minute of it! I am sure my time is coming when I will have the crabbies because my kids aren't cooperating!
What kind of family traditions did you participate in as a kid and do you do those same things with your kids?

Thanksgiving with Hunters

Boy oh boy! How was everyone's thanksgiving? Pleasant I hope, as was ours down in the southern region of Indiana. Spent 5 days with Joe's wonderful family and had three big Thanksgiving meals! You gotta love family get togethers around the holidays cause it usually means great food and good conversation. At least on our ends of things it is. Thanksgiving in Bedford is planned a little differently from Thanksgiving in Chicago.  Well, I guess it isn't much different except for the fact that we plan to eat after dark vs.early to late afternoon.  The reason for this is because it is hunting season and most hunters will hunt early in the morning, come home for a few hours and head back out until they can barely see their way out of the woods. Dinner's aren't planned to start until dark, but we are usually not serving up until more like 7pm or sometimes later depending on whether someone killed a deer or not. Joe ended up getting a couple of doe around 4:15pm on Saturday and we didn't start eating until 7pm that night due to having to gut, clean, check in and hang them before we could all eat. I had my very first hunting experience Friday afternoon with Joe. We didn't see anything the first two hours. I was freezing cold by the time we spotted our first doe and unfortunately we sat there watching them walk further away from us giving us no possible chance of adding them to our deep freezer. It was nice to be back in the woods with Joe regardless of the lack of action.
Thanksgiving in Chicago... well, we have at least one hunter in the family but he is married to my cousin so he has only been in the family for about 5 years so we usually gather together for meals early in the afternoon, eat til we are sick, lay around like pathetic stuffed turkey's and then eat some more.
Coming home is always nice, sometimes... I usually miss my bed, but I can't say the same for all the endless things I have been wanting to get done stare me in the face day after day. First thing that gave me the death stare was my empty fridge. NO FOOD! It is always nice to leave the house for a few days knowing the fridge is not full of food that will be spoiled by the time of your return, but once you return the last thing you want to do is get right back into the car and shop for an hour as did I yesterday evening while Joe was out hunting for a third deer.
I managed to avoid going out on Black Friday. My sister-in-law worked hard to get me to go out toWalmart at Mid-night. Knowing I probably wouldn't get to bed until 2am or later I politely refused and headed to bed early, trying to kick a cough and sore throat I had been fighting all week last week. Black Friday can be somewhat exciting for me knowing how many good deals stores throw at you so you will buy more. I tend to only like going if there is something specific that I really need. I would rather avoid large crowds of greedy people and waiting in extra long check-out lines and spend a few more bucks on the few items that I would have bought anyway. I am not much of a shopper! I kind of wish I was better at bargain shopping, but alas, I hate wasting my time running from store to store just to find the cheapest price.
All in all, thanksgiving was more than relaxing. I only wish Jake could have spend more time with grandparents and cousins than he did. He is the only Wisley cousin that doesn't live within 45 min of each other. I pray he grows up to be pretty good buds with them regardless of the distance.
Below are some pictures from the weekend gatherings.

All 10 Wisley side cousins

 Jake's cousin closet in age

Papaw and Grandma Wisley

Cancelling Cable...

Well Joe and I decided to cancel our cable TV when our contract is up at the end of December. Oh the time I will have to get projects started that I have put off, the number of books I will read, the quality time spent with Joe after Jake goes to bed and the time I would have once wasted during Jake's nap being bored watching crap TV when I could be cleaning, doing my quiet time, learning to knit, exercising etc. I can't say that I am going to love it for the first several weeks. I am sure that I will miss some of my favorite shows such as The OFFICE, SURVIVOR, ELLEN, SUPER NANNY, MAN VS WILD, MAN WOMAN WILD, PAWN STARS... just to name a few. I am looking forward to washing myself clean of my love for TV as well as the amount of money it will save of per year not having it. I think it all adds up to be $636 per year just to have cable TV! That would have taken care of our property tax for the last 6 months! It also relieves me to know that Jake will grow up not always wanting to have the TV on and will use his time being creative and active! Yeah for making life changes. Time to get out my puzzles, books, yarn, cook books and workout clothes!

Pregnant for 23 weeks already!

Just a quick update on this new little pea pod that I already can't wait to hold, to nurse, to kiss, to read too, to introduce to Jake as well as the family and friends. Being pregnant this second time around has been a breeze. The only difference between this pregnancy and Jake's is the fact that Jake wasn't here yet and I had all the time in the world to cook, clean, nap and read! The great thing about a second pregnancy is my ability to relax and let the time pass without worrying about what labor is going to be like, finding all the baby crap I may need when it gets here(since I already have all the crap I can possibly store) and Jake takes up so much of my day that the time flies by giving me very little time to think about how much longer I have to be pregnant. Besides that there really is nothing different about this pregnancy from the first one. Even though we are not going to find out the sex of this baby, I have a strong feeling that it is going to be a boy, but only because I feel the exact same I did with Jake and this baby moves around a lot like Jake did. Girl or Boy I only pray that baby number two will like to snuggle a little more than Jake did, and that it will nurse a little faster as well. Jake seemed to take a good 45 min when he ate. Oh and I can't forget all the throwing up he did too! I have to add at that the, "let's not repeat that all over again" list. Jake has been a joy and I am excited to add another joy to my life. I would post a preggo picture but I have yet to take one so you will just have to wait. I do have a belly though, in case you were worried that I wasn't showing yet. I most certainly am and it has been getting harder and harder to put my socks and shoes on. Thankfully I can still cuddle with Jake before naps and bedtime. I will miss it when my belly is too big for me to hold him while I read him a book and sing him a few bedtime songs.

Not that I need it, but I want it!

God has been working on my heart as of late when it comes to my needs vs. my wants. When I open up my drawers or look into my closet and wonder what I am going to put on for the day little voices start to pop into my head that I need more clothes, or I need to have a black pair of flats as well as a brown pair...  Most girls are like this! We feel the need to have 5 or more purses, 4 belts, 6 pairs of high heels, three pairs of gym shoes, several pairs of sandals(all different colors), 4 pairs of jeans(all different washes), 10 dresses, 5 sweaters, 5 sweat shirts etc. I think you get the idea. Why is it that we think we need all these things? Why are they so important to us to have so many things? Why does fashion matter? I am certainly not saying I think we should all wear sweat pants and a T-shirt everyday, but the amount of clothes and accessories is way more abundant than it should be.
I was doing my laundry today and as I was separating the colors I noticed a maternity shirt I had not worn in a few weeks! I was excited to find it but the fact that I forgot I owned it made me stop and think about why I think I need more clothes when I can't even remember the ones I do have. I do about 3 loads of laundry per week. One dark load, one light colored load and a small white load. This does not always include the load of towels and sheets that I do every week, but I humbly think that is a pretty fair amount of clothes to be washed on a weekly basis. However, I think I have enough clothes that I wouldn't have to wash any for about a month. This to me is very sad!
I took a trip into Kokomo this weekend with my sister-in-law and Jake. My mission was to find a heavy winter coat for Jake. We made a stop at TJ Max but no luck in finding his size. I haven't been shopping in a long time so I decided to browse the shoes, scarves, and purses. This was somewhat of an unwise decision since it only made me want everything I saw! It is hard to browse when you have no money to buy so I won't be doing that again. Our trip ended at Old Navy and a $20 purchase for my little Jake. Now he was in definite need of a coat!
Christmas is coming up and I always struggle with this time of year, especially this year since I have been so convicted about money the last couple of months. Tis the season to want more, get more and spend more! Why? I have no problem giving more, but I hope my giving this year will go to those who need more. I plan to give a present or two to Jake and Joe, but I am much more excited about what my family can do to help others that have true needs. I am beginning to learn that the best way to lose the way money has control over our lives is to have less and give more. Joe read me an excellent quote that comes from a book called, "The Hole in our Gospel" which explains that idea better.

"We must never for a single moment lose sight of the stark realization that whenever we deal with money, we are dealing with dynamite. What is one day that which we control, the next day becomes the controller. Such dynamite must be defused, and the greatest diffuser that we as Christians have at our disposal is the opportunity to take that which seeks to dominate us and simply give it away. Think about it. There is no greater expression of money's total lack of dominance over us or of its low priority in our lives than when we can with joy and peace, give it away for the Lord's work. You cannot worship the God of mammon and be a free and cheerful giver. Likewise, you cannot serve the living God and be a hoarder of his resources. Giving, both how we give and how much we give, is the clearest outward expression of who our God really is. Our check stubs speak more honestly of our priorities than our church memberships."

The less I have, the less I stress and worry about because I learn to rely on God provision for me vs. losing my need to rely on anyone but myself. I am thankful for the things I have and I don't need more because I don't want my things to control me.

1st Birthday Pics

These are a little late but better late than never!

This is Jake's first birthday card/mail from Aunt Janice and Uncle James, Kate and Luke

Playing outside on his Birthday. You want to Play with me?

Getting started on his cupcake!

Sugar Coma!

So BIG!

Pics from Tate's Apple Orchard with my parents

Cleaning and Showing our House

Today Joe, Jake and I spent half the day at our house in Anderson. The old place looked like it needed some freshening up. As I did my first walk through I thought, "not bad. The previous renter did what he thought was an acceptable clean up job," but as I started to open cabinets and the oven and microwave it looked as though food had exploded inside. I think it took me two hours to get the kitchen cleaned. Then I had the bathrooms, which weren't that dirty and then all the windows and the fireplace, which was full of ashes. All the doors and baseboards were filthy too! .Definitely was not show ready! That is why you can't always leave these types of things up to men. Some men have been blessed to know how to clean a place the right way. Not this guy! He does not have an eye for detail like I do. Joe spent the day outside trimming bushes, weed eating, sweeping and clearing out what should have been an already cleared and swept garage, but alas, one more thing our renter did not get done.
Jake was a little gem the whole time! He explored all day while we frantically cleaned. He barely had a decent nap but was as happy as could be. We showed the house to two people today! First couple is interested but made a really low offer of 35,000 dollars lower than our asking price and 15,000 dollars lower than the lowest price we would take for it. Next couple didn't make an offer because the guy said he was one of the greediest people ever and would make us a super greedy offer so Joe had to give him a number of what we had to get out of it. They are going to think it over and give us a call back! We are so hoping the second couple will go for the number we gave them.
On my way home tonight Jake threw up all over himself in the car! It was so gross but a quick clean up. Not sure why he threw up though? I hope it was just because he was finishing an 8oz bottle of coconut milk and it was too much for his stomach to handle.  He fell asleep shortly after that and after I got home and was transferring him to his bed he threw up all over me twice! It was pretty gross but throw up doesn't make me gag like it used too. I quickly re-dressed him and put him down before I went back in to clean up the floor and the rocking chair. I really hope he sleeps well tonight and eats a good breakfast in the morning. That would at least tell me that his tummy was just upset from too much food and milk and that he is not coming down with a flu bug.
Well, I am too pooped to write anymore and should head to bed just in case this ends up being a rough night for Jake and me. I will keep you all updated on the progress of our home!

Parenting: Take a break

I have an  email subscription to a website for parents that sends me a parenting tip each week. I thought I would share this one with you because I think time outs can be a little over used and for a lot of kids aren't very effective, at least not at the day care I work at.  I really liked the idea of taking a break rather than using a time out as a means to discipline all the time. Let me know what you think. I have more to share on the idea of training your child's heart from a great book I have read about it by the same guy who uses "The Break" in his household. The website is called biblicalparenting.org if you are interested in subscribing! Happy parenting! Ha Ha Ha!

Parenting Tip

October 25, 2010

Teach Children to Take a Break
When you begin to see a bad attitude or hear that manipulative whining voice, have your child take a Break. With young children, as young as two or three years old, have them sit in a particular place, a chair, a carpet square, the hallway, or a bottom step. For older children, you might send them to the parent's room or to another quiet place.

We believe that the Break is much more helpful than Time Out. The instructions given are simple and clear. "You need to go take a Break. Come back and see me when you've calmed down and are ready to talk about this nicely."
Two differences are important. The child knows that the objective in taking a Break is a changed heart and also the child helps determine the length of time spent in the break place, coming back only when ready for a debriefing.

These two differences between Time Out and the Break change the posture of the parent. With Time Out, the parent is the policeman, keeping the child in the chair until the sentence for misbehavior has been served. With the Break, the parent is eagerly waiting for the child to return so that they can debrief and more forward.

The Break helps parents address heart issues with children and can become a primary discipline technique. It actually comes from the Bible in the teaching about discipline in God's family, the Church (Matthew 18, 1 Corinthians 5, and 2 Corinthians 2). The idea is basically this: If you can't abide by the principles that make this family work, then you can't enjoy the benefits of family life. The two go hand in hand.

This parenting tip was taken from the book, Home Improvement, The Parenting Book You Can Read to Your Kids, by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN.


If this tip was sent to you by a friend and you'd like to continue to receive tips yourself, you can sign up at www.biblicalparenting.org.

A house is just a house and money is just money

I do not write this post to make anyone have pity on our situation so if it comes off that way I apologize now because sometimes these types of blogs may give off the impression that my life is worse off than everyone else. We are in a tough spot right now and since this is my blog I feel the freedom to write about it and since it is apart of our life to update you about it as well.
We have a house, not the house we live in now but a house we still currently own that we built back about 2006. We moved in, I think, the winter of 06, it may have been 05, but it was so long ago I can't remember the exact date. We loved that house. It was our dream house and it wasn't even that big. Three bedroom, two full bath, wood burning fireplace, cathedral ceilings, big garage, living, dining and kitchen open concept and the best part... it was all on 6 acres of land. Most of it was wooded but we had about 2 acres that we mowed. The next best part...it was private, back off the road about 700 ft. behind two other houses. We could pee in the front yard or walk around the house butt naked and no one would know. The perfect place to live. I loved having my own place to decorate, to make my own. The first several years of marriage we lived in an apartment. It never felt like home to me because I knew so many other people lived in it before me and many more would do the same after we moved out. We then moved to a friends house with the intention that we would help him fix it up while we lived in it for free. That was a sweet deal, but again, never felt like home.
Then when we finally finished building OUR house.

We had our very own place to care for. We soon learned that owning a house was a lot more work than we ever thought it would be. Lots of things to work on, spend money on... It felt like a never ending project, but we still really loved living there regardless of the high costs to keep it up.
We then felt God moving us to a place we never thought we would be, but before going we were going to take a long walk in the woods for 6 months. Most of you know about our hike across the AT. Within two months after putting up a for sale sign we were unable to sell but found a couple who wanted to sign a lease option (basically, they rent for a year then buy the house). They never fulfilled their contract with us and moved out after 14 months of living there. Again we had to put the house up for sale and before our next months mortgage was due another couple came along and wanted to sign the same type of contract, with the intention of buying in a year.  Praise God for his provision so we didn't have to pay the mortgage! Sadly enough they have also backed out of the lease and have moved out leaving us with a mortgage, insurance bill, property tax, and electric bill of which we have NO money to pay for. We now find ourselves in a pickle of decisions to make. How to pay for the mortgage each month? Whether or not to take the couple to court and sue them for what they owe us since they are still under contract with us until next April? Is the house ever going to sell?
Pray Pray Pray that God will sell our house so we can finally be free of a burden that we so loved when we could afford to live there.
The feelings I am left with the last couple of days is that a house is just house. It is not something we can take with us to heaven. It is just a place that God provides for us to find comfort, safety, peace, and happiness while we are here on this earth. Money is just money. God is so much bigger than money and American people seem to worry more about money than we do about our own souls or more important others souls. It is a tough spot to be in because we got ourselves in this pickle of a problem in the first place.
So we go on living and trusting that God will provide a miracle for us before too long. Last night I was reading Haggai last night before bed and here is what it says...

"Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house is in ruins (talking about the temple)? Now this is what the Lord Almighty says,"Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."

This is what the Lord Almighty says:" Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored says the Lord. "You expected much but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the Lord. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house."  

I took these words and brought them into my reality that I have spent more time thinking about my house more than the house of God(his kingdom of people) which is in ruins. Sure I don't want to go bankrupt and loose everything. I honestly don't think that will happen, but I don't want to waste more brains cells thinking about how terrible our situation is rather than using my time to build up the kingdom of God. I can't say that I will ever want to build or even own a house ever again. If God was to call us to move again I don't need the stress of having to sell another home, or be stuck with the financial burden when my money could go towards helping people who don't have clean water or food and are dying everyday because of it. Too much time and money is wasted on a home, sometimes even one that we don't even own. I want to use my time and money to bless others. If you own a house I think God is okay with that. I think he wants us to be blessed so long as we are blessing others with what we have.  Always remember that one day your house on earth will just be blown away and the time and money we put into it will all be gone in a flash. Eternal life is not built up in the place we live now, but in the place will be.  "Home is where the Heart is"

Is your heart where your earthly home is, or your eternal home is?

God free us from our earthly house so we can build up your heavenly house for others!

A few summer favorites

Two different kinds of "FALL"

The wonderful things about fall...

•  cooler temps
• changing colors
• hot tea and hot apple cider
• smell of harvest
• apple picking
• carving pumpkins
• making pumpkin bread
• chilly mornings
• sitting around a campfire
• taking a nap out on a blanket in the sun
• Sunday afternoon football games

I am sure I am forgetting many other wonderful things about this time of year. How about you? What is your favorite part?
I am sitting at the dining room table wishing that I wasn't suffering from my first fall cold. Jake and I both caught a cold this week while at Day Care. I feel worse for him because I know how bad I feel and he doesn't know how to blow his nose or tell me where he hurts. I RARELY ever get sick and if I do it is usually not until February, so I am pretty bummed that I managed to get sick. I knew the risk I was taking if I worked at a Day Care with all the runny noses, coughing and sneezing that goes on in places like this but I honestly didn't think I would be sick after less than a month of working there. Well, at least it is only a cold and will pass in a couple of days.
Joe on the other hand has a little more to complain about. My hero took a bad crash on his bike a little over two weeks ago in the woods on the expert section of a single track mountain biking trail. The section he was in had redesigned that section and added some more jumps so he was unfamiliar with the difficulty of one particular jump and gave it a go which could potentially cost us in a large sum of hospital bills. He flew over his handle bars head first and when he was in mid air turned his body to his left side(he is predominately left handed) and his head and left shoulder took the brunt of the fall. He was knocked out cold for several seconds. The guy who was with him is a good friend of ours from the camp and he said he thought Joe was dead because his body went limp once he hit the ground.  When Joe came too he was in and out for about 30 min before he could remember what had happened and where he was etc. He thought his shoulder was either broken or dislocated and the pain was so intense he did what goes does best in those situations, crack jokes!
When my prince returned to me he was in a sling and x-rays showed that his shoulder and clavicle were separated, which basically means the ligament that holds them together was torn really bad. He is still suffering pain from that and will be following up with an orthopedic surgeon this week to check on his healing progress. So far no surgery is needed but it will take several months for it to be back to his normal self again. He did also have to have a CT scan and the results came back negative(hence the huge medical bill in which we hope insurance will cover). Those things are expensive! Well my daring husband won't be riding his bike for a while but I am sure this won't slow him down any.  I am just glad to have him in one piece and glad he isn't paralyzed!

To blog or not to blog

Oh the blogging world is something I go back and forth with. I do like to read other blogs but to write them is a whole different kind of world for me. I think it is only because I want to make time to read what has been going on in my friends lives, however I don't care to keep my own blog up to date. Not that min blog is anything worth keeping up on but if I am going to have one I should at least do a monthly post right?
I think my last post was in July, I think. Anyway, it was a long time ago. I guess I will just share my highlights for the last few months and then hope to give you a little more than just updates in my next posts.

In my last post I announced that we are expecting our second child which is exciting for me now since I finally heard the heart beat. It makes it all the more real to me when I hear that first sound of pitter pattering. I love that sounds. It makes my heart stop and all I want to do is smile! We will not be finding out the sex of this baby either. Since we will be doing a home birth again we do not plan to have an ultra sound unless our midwife thinks it necessary too. I know it seems strange not too since they are usually the norm, but they are just another one of those hospital procedures that I don't need to spend extra money on.  Our total cost for this baby is going to be a whopping $1000! Usually she is 1800 but we gave her family a place to stay at our camp for free for a few weeks so we were able to cut down on the cost which is so stinking nice! So baby number two, boy or girl, is going to enter the world in it's own home somewhere around March 8th.  That puts me at around 18 weeks now. My baby bump is now popping out enough you can tell I am pregnant, not fat!
Since the summer ended I have taken a part time, as needed, job at our Rainbow Kids Day Care Ministry. It is right at the camp, and I can bring Jake with me when I work so I felt that I shouldn't pass up an opportunity to make a few bucks while being able to keep Jake with me. This is my third week and I enjoy it a lot more than I expected too. I have always loved kids but I wasn't sure how if having Jake with me would be too much of a distraction since I want to make sure that I am not just focused on him or if Jake might give me a hard time because he is so used to having me all to himself. Well I am happy to say that Jake is neither a distraction and he plays very well with the kids. He has even adjusted to taking naps there so I feel pretty stress free about it and am very thankful for the opportunity I have been given. It not only gets me out of the house a couple days of the week, but it allows Jake to socialize, as well as myself, and I feel like it will be a learning experience as far as how to handle all different ages. In a way help prepare me a little as Jake goes through all the different stages. I have already learned a lot and I appreciate all the kids that come in.
I have decided that I am not going to let cabin fever set in this winter! I have joined a Monday morning ladies small group with a few women from camp and church. We are studying a book by Joyce Myer called "Battlefield of the Mind." So far I have only been to one meeting but just joined last week. I felt very positive about getting back into a small group studying because I have always needed something to help keep me on track in my spiritual disciplines. I also decided to give MOPS a try every other Friday morning from 9-11am. Not sure what MOPS stands for but it is for moms to get together, drop the kids off at the nursery and hang out, do projects, listen to guest speakers etc. I was asked to be a guest speaker this coming January and share about fitness and nutrition. I look forward to getting to know other moms in my community and hope it will get my foot in the door in terms of feeling more apart of our church as well. Converse is really starting to feel like home for us. We are so thankful for all the great friendships we have made here and love the family community we share in at the camp.

I think I have exhausted my words for this post. My brain has decided to stop working for the day. I was going to post some pictures, however, I have not loaded them onto my computer yet. God Bless!

What is up with our family these days

I have gone blank as of what to blog about as of late, hence the reason I haven't kept you all updated the last month.  I don't like to write unless I feel inspired too and my inspiration has been dead.  Until now...
My last post was in May and since then my little sister got married.  It was a fun day as most weddings are. I was able to contain myself while standing by her side as she became Mrs Tyler.
Last week was Joe's Wilderness Trip for the camp. We took three high school guys down to Bedford IN for some mountain biking. I was able to go with them for two of the 4 days.  I had so much fun! I totally miss playing on my bike in the woods.  My legs don't look like they had fun though. I had around 10 bruises and a nice long cut on the back of my leg from my petal getting in the way. 
We are more than halfway through summer camp. It is hard to believe summer is almost over.  It always feels like camp just gets started and then you blink and it is over and everything around me feels dead and quiet.
I turned 30 last week.  It isn't that bad being 30. Sure I know I am older but I still feel young and do just as much now as I did when I was 20.
Jake is walking like it is his job.  He started about three weeks ago just after he turned 9 months and he is so cute walking around like Frankenstein.  He isn't saying anything except Dada and sometimes Mama.  He loves to eat though! Oh my goodness! He could sit in his highchair for 45 min and shovel it down like it was his last meal. He is a Wisley!  It looks like he is going to be a lefty. He uses it a lot when he eats and picks things up.
I am most certainly not ready for this next bit of news which will come as a surprise as it did for Joe and I but we have another bun in the oven.  It apparently has been cooking for about 4 weeks now.  Looks like the boring month of March is going to be an exciting one for us next year.  I find it rather funny actually.  I wanted to cry when I found out, but I just laughed instead.  I always did say I wanted to have my babies close together.
well, there you have it. My life for the last 6 weeks. 

Workout Weeks 4-5

I can't believe I am this far behind in my workout update. Sorry to keep you wondering, if you even care. Week 4 went fairly well. I took the week to rest, if you want to call it that. I actually just rested from lifting weights and focused on yoga, cardio and core work. So, I ended up working out everyday. It was just as hard of a week. I sweat a lot and was still sore, but it was nice to leave the dumbbells in their place and only have to unroll my yoga mat. Working out on a daily basis has become a daily habit and I can't go to bed until it is done. I know the benefits and love the way I feel when I am finished. We ate a few things we had not had in a long time, like brussel sprouts and squash. I can't complain about the food side of it besides my cravings for ice cream, which I have had a couple times in the last two weeks. No worries because I weighed in this morning and I have lost about 5-6 pounds in the last 4.5 weeks. I hope the scale wasn't lying to me this morning but I was pumped to see a much lower number than I was expecting it to be.  Only 5-6 pounds from my goal and I have two months to do it!
Last weeks workouts hurt! I am on a slightly different routine. It is always good to mix it up every 3-4 weeks to create muscle confusion. The reason for this is to keep your body guessing so that it is forced to adapt to a new exercise, or routine to produce faster and better results. I can't do the same thing day in and day out so this kind of workout is great for me. Here is my workout schedule for the next three weeks:
Mondays - Chest, Shoulders and Triceps and then Abs
Tuesdays  - Plyometrics (high impact jump training)
Wednesdays - Back and Biceps and then Abs
Thursdays - Yoga (60-90 min)
Fridays - Legs and Back and then Abs
Saturdays - Kempo/Karate (basically a lot of punching and kicking)
I usually get a walk in everyday as well.
I am feeling really great. I am back into my pre-pregnancy jeans. They are slightly snug in the butt and hips but not so much that I can't wear them. Even though I am only 6 -8 pounds over what I used to be I feel perfectly beautiful and fit.

Okay now for my picture update. I took these at the beginning of last week. I will post my first picture and then my most recent picture so you can see the difference.

A very tasty Eggplant Recipe. (Even for those who are picky!)

Do you like Eggplant? Three weeks ago I would have said," not really", but today I have found a way to like it.
Eggplant Parmigiana
1 egg plant sliced in 1 inch pieces long ways. You can peeled it or leave the peel on. I left mine on.
1 egg beaten with a tsp of water
1/4 of flour
Dip each piece of eggplant in the egg and then the flour. Fry in a pan with oil until each side of golden brown.
Put the pieces in a baking dish and pour grated Parmesan cheese over the top. Then 1 cup of all natural spaghetti sauce on top of that and then 3/4 cups of mozzarella cheese. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees until warm. about 10-12 min.
This was sooooooo yummy! You can even add some ground meat to it if you so desire.  Try it! You will like it!

We had black beans and brown rice with this as our side! Loved it all!

Food!

Oh how I love food! I am so glad that I am not a picky eater because there are so many wonderful flavors out there I haven't even tried yet. I try just about anything except for fried bugs! I love ethnic foods too! Chinese, Italian, French, Indian, Thai, etc you name it and I just might like it. My taste buds always look forward to anything new and exotic.
Last week I decided I would start making my own food. Not just your original chicken casseroles and salads, but HEALTHY homemade bread, muffins, granola bars, WW pancakes, and several other recipes that have just good old wholesome ingredients. No sugar added! My goal for the next 6-8 weeks is to eat only foods that are unprocessed. I am no longer buying Quaker granola bars (even though I never bought those in the first place), or boxed cereal, pancake mix, store bought bread or box mix muffins. If I want to eat it I am going to make it from scratch. I am very excited about this challenge because not only will it force me to expand my recipe book, it will, I hope, help me feel better on the inside and look better on the outside.
I have already made a couple batches of WW bread and my Dried Cherry and Walnut Oatmeal Bars are now cooking in the oven and they smell so good!  Both batches of bread turned out so yummy. Way more tasty and wholesome than store bought bread. I tried two different recipes and love them both! I told Joe yesterday that we need to try and control our cravings for it because I didn't want to have to make bread every single week. If we could get by on a loaf of bread per week that would save me having to knead bread every week. That is hard work! I wish I had a Kitchen Aid Mixer! One of these days I will.  If anyone knows of someone that wants to get rid of theirs let me know.
I have been searching online for recipes to try. My favorite blogs to get recipes from is one by orangette and another by Simple Kneads.  These blogs have great recipe ideas! I am going to also make my own Chipati bread this week as well. It is an African non-yeast bread made with very simple ingredients. They end up looking like WW torillas. You can find that recipe on Simple Kneads as well as the WW bread. I also love the Food Network channel. I watch Giada and Home, Healthy Appetite with Ellie Kreiger, and for the unhealthy side of me I love Paula Dean. If I could meet one person and hang out with for a day it would be Paula Dean. I hope to one day go visit Savannah Georgia and eat at her restaurant. ( Just tried the bars I  made and they taste pretty good. I think I will add more applesauce next time for a little more moister).
Anyway! If anyone has any great healthy, non-processed recipes for any kind of meal pass them on to me! I am pumped about all the endless possibilities. My taste buds are already watering!

Etiquette Part 2

  It is my desire to poke a little fun at times because I know that some reading this may think I am bashing them and I am not. I should be bashing myself in some of these categories. My only goal is to write out my thoughts, not victimize people or make you feel bad for being at fault for some of these things. I have been at fault myself. We all make mistakes in the department of good manners. I know I lack in the "having more tact" department, of which I want to improve on, and have improved on, but need to improve more. I also need to work a little more on how I express myself by way of blogging, emails, facebook etc. since I know I can come off as abrasive and uptight. I am not an uptight person who picks at every little thing that people do wrong. My blog is not meant to point out things about people I don't like. It is just my poor style of writing that makes it sound like I am annoyed with people every time they do these things. I only bring up what I think we could all work on a little more. Some etiquette categories are higher up on my list of importance, and others are not that big a deal, but worth a mention so please take it with a grain of salt and have a little fun with it.
Alright, for part two I will be covering the following categories: CELL PHONE, TEXTING, DRIVING.
Cell Phone:
I absolutely love having a cell phone! I think they are one of the greatest inventions. The sense of security it gives me when I am taking a long distance trip by myself, or when I am at the grocery store and can't remember what Joe wanted me to buy him. I think most of us would be naked without it, however there are some ways in which having one on our person 24/7 can make life a little obnoxious at times. One of those times is when you get a call in the middle of a conversation with someone. Should you answer or should you ignore it? Depends. In most instances incoming calls can wait until the conversation is over, period. Think back to the days when cell phones didn't exist. I remember not wanting to own a cell phone because of how much I dislike phone conversations. Personally, I don't care for talking on the phone over talking in person, unless the person is too far away to get together.
Another time is when you are eating dinner, whether it be at home or out, or how about during church(doesn't happen that often), or the movies. It's not hard to turn phones on vibrate and step out of the room if you absolutely must answer. I don't care to hear the one sided conversation.  Another place I really don't care to pick up my phone is in the car, but only if I am with other people. There is something about tight spaces and listening to other people talk on their phone's I don't care for, but when it does happen it isn't the end of the world.
Then we have TEXTING! I think texting is another great invention. It allows you to contact someone without having to talk to them if you happen to be in the middle of something and can't call, or if you need to send a quick message out. It is a nice tool to have on your plan. I do not have unlimited texts. I do not have the need to text people all day long, but for those who prefer to text versus call me I have to have a plan so my phone bill doesn't sky rocket.
The times texting can become frustrating is when people get texts in the middle of a conversation and reply while continuing the conversation. I know I can't pay attention to the two at the same time so I don't know how anyone else can.
As a general rule I think putting away your phone during the times you are in the middle of a conversation would save you from offending anyone, or pardon yourself from the conversation and step away to write the reply or make the call.
DRIVING - The wonderful world of automobiles. Gotta love having a car right! I can't imagine having to go back to a horse and buggy. To think how much of the world we would not get to see and explore.  I am not too sure what driving etiquette looks like so I will just cover the things that I think bug people the most about other drivers
 One road rule would have to be using your turn signals at the proper time, which for some odd reason many people who live in bigger cities do not use. I have noticed this in Chicago especially. I don't know why it is so hard for people to move their little fingers over a few inches and put a little pressure on the signal knob to indicate to other drivers which way they intend to turn? Beats me!
Next we have those drivers that we all love! Left lane slow pokes! Oh how I wish I could tap the back of their bumpers when they pay no attention to the long line of cars that are following closely behind them. Even better is when they drive the same speed as the person in the right lane so that no one can pass on either side! 

My favorite Parenting book thus far

I have to share because I found a book that just so happens to be the best book on parenting I have read in a long time. In a previous post I wrote about how I am searching for answers on how God instructs us to parent and what I thought to be good parenting before I had kids is now different for me now that I have my own, not much, but I have a better understanding of child-rearing since having Jake. I have done a lot of online reading about discipline. I have read strangers blogs, gone to christian websites, secular websites, websites for mom's, etc. Joe told me I needed to stop reading so much on it because he didn't want me to be brainwashed by so many opinions. I agreed I should probably not be so obsessed over it, but I want to do the very best at being the parent God instructs me to be. Parenting thus far has been the most challenging part about being a parent. It's not the crying, the fussiness, the runny nose, getting up in the middle of the night, but it's the decision of how we are going to parent Jake.  The other part that goes along with that is the challenge you face when your parenting styles don't match with those you live life with. It's not that they have to match, but it becomes a challenge because if my way is different from other families way you don't want to step on their toes and/or offend others visa versa We are all going through the same thing and yet we still avoid this topic of "parenting." I personally would rather talk about it, even if we disagree, than too avoid it.
Of all the info on blogs, websites, and books I have read I found a book that I feel is one of the best books on Parenting. It is called "Parenting by the Book" by John Rosemond.  You can go to his website and read up on him and his material(www.rosemond.com). John practiced in Psychology and has written many other books on parenting.  If you have been questioning the meaning of the phrase "the rod" John explains it in this book in a way I have never heard before.  If you are interested in finding out more go to the link at the end of this blog and you can read the introduction, Chapter 1 and 5 of this book to see if it is something you might be more interested in reading for yourself.
I would consider myself a traditional parent. I haven't been comfortable with the new postmodern way of parenting, thus the reason I like this guy so much because he makes sense and believes that the way child- rearing was done before the 1960's was really the best way to do it. In other words our grandmothers knew what they were doing. He also does a great job of backing up his beliefs with verses from the Bible. Happy reading!
http://www.rosemond.com/PbTB-Download.html

Etiquette/Good Manners

Time changes, but having manners shouldn't. I researched the word "etiquette" this week and here is what I came up with. I found a website by a woman named Emily Post who has passed away recently. She was an expert in "etiquette" and I found her site to be quite helpful in this category, although there were a few categories I was unable to find any information on. I don't have my panties in a bunch or anything. I just thought it would be interesting to read up on it. I don't hold these things over people's heads. I am not that picky, except for maybe the "Time" category, but maybe I just need to work on my patience a little more too. ;)
Bathroom Etiquette - The Toilet Seat Rule.
Some men have a terrible habit of leaving it up after they relieve themselves. Luckily I have a husband that ALWAYS puts the seat down, thanks to his lovely mother for instilling that rule in him. I have, however had several guests, leave the seat up after they use the toilet. Boys,  it would be so considerate of you if you could try to remember to put the seat down when you are finished. I prefer to not have to touch the seat unless I am cleaning it once a week. Thanks!
RSVP Etiquette - RSVP is french for "repondez s'il vous plait" or "please reply" I have failed at giving a prompt reply to an invitation in the past and hate myself for it. Proper etiquette for an invitation is to reply to it within two days of receiving the invitation.  I've been in the position of the invitation sender and experience frustration from people not responding to the invite.
Time Etiquette - this one is my own rule. I couldn't find time etiquette on Emily's website but it should be there. I have always been a person of punctuality and appreciate it when people I make appointments with do the same. I understand that there are circumstance where a person has a good reason for being late to things, but there are also those people who are late to everything.  Working as a personal trainer for 4 years I experienced many a client that would consistently show up late for our workout appointments. One in particular met with me 2 times a week at 6:30AM and never showed up on time. In fact, she was always at least 20 min late. For those of you who hate getting up before 7am, like me, can relate to how annoying this is.  Luckily I don't perform like a doctors office and give them their full session when they were late. Every client had a 45 min time slot. Whether they chose to show up on time or not, was up to them.  Being late on occasion doesn't bother me. I am not that up-tight, but I do appreciate people who respect other people's time
Conversation Etiquette - I was going to title this one as "The Interrupting Child" but changed it because adults are at fault for interrupting conversations as well. Interrupting a conversation or someone that is talking to you is a BIG  'no' no' in my book. I have been interrupted one too many times by people I am talking too, whether in person or over the phone as well as interruption by someone not even involved in the circle of conversation who jumps in before the speaker is finished. I don't know why it is so hard but, before opening your mouth make sure the person that is speaking is done speaking. Not a hard rule to follow. Even more annoying then that is when a child interrupts. Not because they loudly proclaim they need someone's attention, but because in a lot of cases the adult they are trying to get the attention from give it to them, teaching them that it is okay to interrupt whenever they want something. Growing up my parents told us we were to never interrupt them when they were speaking with someone. If we needed something we were to give them a light squeeze on the arm so they knew we would like to ask them something when they were able to listen.  It worked like a charm!

I have more but might bring those up in another post. What are some etiquette categories that you were taught growing up that isn't quite the same today? The only reason I bring this up is because I feel like America is losing respect for one another. We think so much of ourselves and not more of others. I haven't had these things in particular happen to me in the past month, but they have happened enough that I thought they would be good categories to start with.

Jake Pictures

For the sake of my family, and maybe yours too, a Jake update.

My, my, my, where does the time go? It has already been 7.5 months since Jake was born! I sit and think often of the time when Jake fit into newborn outfits, and itty bitty diapers, and could do nothing but lay around and coo. Wow! Life is so much more fun now then it was when he was 1-5 months old. I was watching video's I had taken of him on a weekly basis and it is so strange to look back and see where is was then compared to now.
Let's see...
Jake is now mobile.  He isn't necessarily crawling but he gets around whether by scooting or army crawling, or rolling. He can get to where he wants to go.
Jake loves to stand! Anytime I am nearby he reaches out for my hands so that he can pull himself up and excitingly bounces once he is up. It is pretty darn cute. Soon I will have to clear off the coffee table of anything I don't want him playing with or throwing off. He already does that but it doesn't really bother me yet.
I am constantly talking to him and repeating words as I show him things, hoping that he catches on fast. Not because I want him to be an over achiever, but because I just want him to understand me even if he can't talk. I am working on some sign language. Our favorites are: more, eat, milk, all done.  I think he gets the idea of milk and all done. Sometimes it seems like he is trying to tell me "all done" but probably not. He just likes to wave his hands a lot.
As far as words go I would like to tell you that his first word is "mama!" Just in the last few days he sounds as if he says "mama" when he is frustrated, hungry and tired. Could be, but it could just be baby babble as well. I think he is saying it! ;)
Jake has also learned to sit up on his own as well. Last week I went in his room to get him out of bed and he was sitting up waiting on me. I was very impressed even though every baby goes through it I am having fun seeing him learn new things.
One last milestone. Jake is learning to wave hello and goodbye. I asked him to wave hi today several times and he would most times stop was he was doing and look at me wave to him and then copy me. It is so cute! I want to kiss him every time.
I was going to post some pictures of him but for some reason my camera isn't letting me, or maybe it's the computer with the problem, but either way I am unable to load any for you. 

Workout Week # 3

I can't believe that 3 weeks of working out is complete. When I first started I thought the weeks were going to crawl by and now I feel like they are flying by. I have already re-established my love for working out! I have always heard that it takes 21 days to make something a habit and it is so true. My number one priorities for each day besides hang out with my son as much as I can is to do my daily Bible readings and to work out. Whatever else I accomplish is great too but not as important.
Week 3 workouts consisted of lots of push-ups, pull-ups, 350 crunches three times a week, biking, yoga, Karate, arms, plyometric training, and going on walks. The workouts are still really hard but I am feeling much stronger then I did on day one and I have so much more energy then I had three weeks ago.This week I take a break from lifting weights and focus on cardio, yoga and core.
I finally got on the scale today, which is not something I like to make a habit of because it isn't always about numbers for me. If I feel good and my clothes are fitting better then that makes me happy. Well, I was 1.5 lb lighter then when I started! I am now only 8.5lb from my goal! I also put a skirt on this morning before church that hasn't fit me since before I was pregnant and it fit well enough to wear today. It was a little snug but not uncomfortably snug and that made me more happy then having lost any weight.
My challenges for the week were few are far between. I can't say that this week was really all that challenging. I did try a few new foods so I guess I can consider that a challenge in a different kind of way. I have always wanted to try eggplant.  I went shopping at Meijer this week instead of my normal trip to Aldi and Walmart. I am getting so tired of shopping at those places because they don't have as large a quantity of fruits and veggies so I decided to take a break from the norm and live it up for the week.  It was a trip well deserved even if I spent more than I normally do on groceries. ( I guess I can consider this my challenge of the week) The endless choices in the produce section sent me soaring! I felt like a little kid at the candy shop! So many great choices, but I couldn't buy them all or they would spoil before i had the chance to eat them. Egg plant was on my list of things to get, as well as my normal veggies; squash, zucchini, spinach, avacado, celery, carrots, asparagus, and several others. My next stop was th meat market. Hmm. Another great section of the store. We love meat in the Wisley house. A meal isn't a meal without some form of muscle building protein.  I decided to go with a pork tenderloin and make that for dinner that night.  My trip ended quickly since Jake was almost ready for a nap. I purchased my items and headed home to get the boy down and admire all the fresh and healthy food items.
Dinner that night changed once I opened the package of pork and gagged at the smell of rotting meat. I always check expiration dates and I was not at fault for this mistake. Date read: 4?25/2010.  The date the day it was bought: 4/23/2010.  Bummer. I'd have to take that back the next day, which I did, hoping they would give me a gift card for their mistake. 
Nope, no gift card.  Bummer again!
We had salmon and eggplant cooked under the broiler with some olive oil and salt and pepper. It was not at all what I was expecting. I really didn't like it at all! It had a very bland flavor, but I am determined to find a way to make it taste good. I absolutely love watching foodnetwork. My fav chef is Giada and she uses eggplant a lot in her cooking so I have already found a few ways to improve the flavor.
Another food I am practicing with flavor enhancement is deer meat, or venison if your prefer.  I love deer meat, if cooked properly. It can be tough and boring so you have to use a good seasoning and tenderizer if making a deer steak.  Last week I attempted deer burgers. I failed on the meat holding together but passed on flavor using worchtershire sauce, salt, pepper, and B-B-Q sauce and whole wheat bread crumbs.  With the remaining meat I made meatballs in the oven and they held together just fine. Not sure what I will try this week but I would like to try a new food every week.
I am excited to get to take my 30 day photo next Sunday! I can't wait to compare it to my Day 1 photos. I have decided that I would reward myself at the end of every month with any one meal and any one desert I want, but I have to be really good in order for me to deserve it.  Here goes week 4!

Sorry Jake! ( you are going to laugh if you read this)

I use cloth diapers and love them! They are easy to use, save me money, and not hard to wash. Ever since Jake started eating solids his poop has obviously changed to good old adult-like poop.  That makes things a little more difficult in the cleaning process because I have to dunk then in the toilet to get all the poop off before I put them in the wash.  Didn't have to do that with breastmilk poop because it is water soluble.
So this morning Jake poops and I clean him up like normal. I am the only one home at this point so I set Jake down on the floor in the hallway so I can see him as I dunk his diaper in the toilet.  He is happily playing with some books and I proceed to the bathroom. Before I get to the bathroom I start to open the diaper to fix the velcro that is stuck on the diaper.  My hand slips and one side of the diaper falls out of my hand and not thinking anything would happen I look down and see Jake's leg covered in his own poop.  probably a 1/2 cup worth of it and it isn't hard, firm poop that I can just scoop up really quick. It was oatmeal consistency! Yuck! I promptly grab one of Jake's hands and try to think about what I should do first: clean the poop of his leg, or carry him to the tub. While I am taking my time in thinking Jake decides that it looks like fun and with his free hand takes a handful of it.  Noooooooo!  So I grab his poop filled hand and let go of the other hand.  Why do I do this? I don't know!  You know what happens next. Now I have Jake with poop on his leg and in both hands.  Okay now I have no other option but to carefully pick him up and put him in the tub. On my way I step in the poop make a trail going into the bathroom on the carpet and bathroom floor.  My first priority is to get that poop off of Jake's hands. I turn on the faucet and start rinsing when all of a sudden Jake starts screaming bloody murder!  "What What What" I yell! Then I realize that I had only turned on the hot water so my son was being scalded with hot water on his right hand.  Crap! (literally and figuratively speaking). With Jake still screaming I finish cleaning him off and take him to his room to find a pacifier (yes I am still using them for emergency) and wrap him in a towel and calm him down. His poor little hand was beat red and eyes full of little tears. He quickly calmed down as I covered his hand in cold Aloe Vera lotion I keep in the fridge.  Now to clean up the other mess.  10 min later life is back to normal again and Jake has forgotten how his mommy tried to body paint him with his own poop and them burn it off.  Poor little guy! I couldn't have felt any worse because it was all my fault. I am just really glad that I didn't drop the poop on his head.  ( I think I am going to go and vomit now)  Good thing it was me and not Joe. He has a terrible gag reflex in these situations.
Hope your day is less pooped filled than mine. :)

Workout Week # 2

I am three days behind in posting this because our internet at the camp is finicky and about every two weeks decides it doesn't want to work. It really doesn't bother me that I can't get online for a few days because it allows me to catch up on some things that I should be doing rather then reading blogs, posting blogs or seeing what is going on on Facebook.
Anyway, so last week marks my second week of working out consistently. I must say that it has been so much easier for me to stay with it when I know that I will be posting my monthly pictures and writing a weekly blog about it for you to read. Even if I don't get any comments I know people are reading and that is enough for me to stick with it even when I am so tired, only have 30 min to workout or if I am tempted to stop by our local ice cream shop for a treat. I actually did end up having some ice cream last week when my sister came to visit for a few days. It was totally worth it, as well as the pizza we ordered one night. 
Week 2 wasn't any easier in terms of the exercises becoming easier, but I for sure was not as sore as the first week. Personally I don't mind being sore because it makes me feel like I am working hard. That isn't a factor in how hard you work, but I enjoy the pain per se. I was able to get through all of my workouts except for this past Saturday. I decided I could use the day to veg, and veg is what I did. Joe was gone Tuesday night through Saturday and when he got home he said that I was looking like I am tightening up in my stomach! Yepee! Although I don't feel that I look much different but hey, I will gladly take the compliment.
Challenges for the week were as follows:
1: Whenever Joe leaves for a few days I always seem to have the most difficult time eating well. I snack more on carbs and don't want to cook healthy meals if I am the only one to cook for. Foods that I crave are usually, rice, popcorn, cereal, dried fruit and pretzels. I know they aren't terrible choices, but I eat too much of it at one time.
2: Baby Showers and Wedding Showers! It is that time of year when everyone and their mother seems to be having a baby or getting married and that means showers, which means food and worst of all, Cake! Cake is one of my favorite things! Oh the wonderful flavor of that moist chocolate goodness covered in sweet, thick frosting is almost too much for me to even know what the meaning of the word, "NO THANKS!"  Suffice it to say, I was good and was able to pass on the cake and eat more carrots and celery.  I also passed up a few cookies at a dinner the church had on Sunday night for all the people who volunteer in the kids ministry.
3: Not getting enough sleep! Sleep is one of the most important aspects of your health. If you aren't sleeping at least 7 hours per night you aren't getting the precious sleep you need in order for your body to do what it needs to do to function. This is especially true when you are working out everyday. In order for muscles to recuperate and heal properly they need rest. Jake hasn't slept well for the past two week it seems. Ever since we came home form Puerto Rico I have had to get out of bed up to 5 times per night. That isn't always every night but he always wakes up at least two times between the hours of 7pm-7am. The first time is almost always around 11pm. I will have just drifted off to a deep sleep and suddenly jolted out of sleep. It makes my heart race every time. Scares me to death! About a month ago Joe and I decided to take pacifiers away from Jake because we were tired of having to retrieve them for him every time he woke up at night. He was completely broken of them in a few days and then we went back to using them when we headed out to Puerto Rico. I don't know how we would have survived without the pacifier on the airplanes. It kept him happy and the other passengers as well. Since we have been home we continued to keep using them and two days ago started to take them away once again. Jake can fall asleep just fine without one. It is the trying to get him back to sleep once he has waken up in the middle of the night that has been frustratingly challenging this week.I am about to just throw 10 pacifiers in his crib in the hopes that he can find ONE of them and go back to sleep, but at the same time I don't want him to have to rely on them. I know everyone has different opinions on pacifiers. I have heard how bad they are, or how terrible it is for me to take them away from him so I don't need advice here. I am just venting and am completely capable of being a good parent to my son and making the right decisions. Either way he isn't going to grow up scared by whether we decide to give him a pacifier or not. (Dismounting my horse. Where did that come from?) Anyway, I need more sleep.
Challenge #4: I don't know if I mentioned this challenge in my last post but it is probably the most challenging next to food. The only time I can get in a workout is when Jake is napping. His naps usually last from 60-90 min and that gives me enough time to workout, shower, and eat something.  However, I have a whole list of things that I want to get done around here that I can only do when he sleeps, such as, wash windows, yard work, spring cleaning in the house, shampoo carpets, wash and wax the car etc. That means it will take me several weeks to have my "To Do List" complete. Before Jake, I would have it done in a week or less. Jake is certainly a lot more fun then a "To DO List" but I like things neat and clean. I am not OCD by any means because it is not first priority for me, but it would be nice to get it done before summer hits. Every thing seems like a chore these days and I have never liked doing chores. I want to play and be outside so if that means my house is going to look like a tornado hit it for a few weeks, then so be it. I have to have fun before I can do work. I don't know how some moms keep up with the house work.
Well, my blog must come to an end because my son is apparently ready to get up from his very short 40 min nap. Grrrrrr.

Need your opinion about car seats

I am in the market for a car seat for Jake and I need your opinion. I was looking in to the convertible car seats that start out rear facing up to 35 lbs and then switch to forward facing up to 50 lbs. What did you use and did you like it?

Jake

Our boy is growing up too fast. Every always says that and then you blink and it really is true. Jake is 7 months old today. He is cutting two teeth, been eating solids for the last month and growing out into 12 months clothes.
I feel much more rested since he started sleeping 12 hours plus thru the night. He was waking up 1-2 times during the night before we started him on solids and our pediatrician told us it was time to introduce solids. I knew he was right but I was not ready because of how easy breastfeeding is. Trying to figure out a new breasfeeding/solids schedule was a little challenging, but I think we finally have it figured out. I think Jake is going to be easy to wean. Not that I am in any hurry to wean. I would love to breastfeed until he is a year, but if he decides he isn't interested anymore then what more can I do. We are down to 4 times in a 24 hours period.
Jake's first solids food was rice cereal and he eat it up like a champ. He didn't spit any of it out and kept opening his mouth for more. His first fruit were pears, and first veggie were peas and loved them both. We have introduced oatmeal, peaches, applesauce, green beans, sweet potatoes, squash, prunes, and banana's. He loves them all. My new challenge this week will be making all of his baby food. I haven't been able to get started with it since we have been out of town so much. This week I plan to make most everything that he has already tried.
Jake wants to crawl so bad! He has been sitting up really well on his own since he was 5 months and now he is bored and ready to see the world. I often catch him rolling around the room or trying to pull his knees up to his chest.  He has also been supporting himself on all fours but hasn't figured out how to move in that position yet. Soon enough and I will be crawling around the house at baby level to see what I need to put up so he doesn't choke on anything or get hurt in some other way.
I still love being a stay at home mom more then anything else in the world right now. It is so much fun to watch him change and each stage is more fun then the last.
Here are some update pics of him easting his first foods.