Spring in January!

Today I had a fun and relaxing Friday with the kids. Even though Eli is cutting four teeth right now and has been pretty irritable all week, he had a GREAT day today. Hailey is finally sleeping through the night (11-12 hrs.!) and even napping pretty well during the day. So, all in all, we are hanging in there. :)

Eli looked pretty goofy most of the morning since he insisted on wearing his swimming trunks (over his fleece PJs) along with his winter hat. A few times during a diaper change I tried to lose the swim trunks but he quickly found them and requested me to put them back on. Ha!

Marc was off after lunch today so we took the kids to the park after Eli's nap. It was 72 degrees here today!!! It was beautiful and the weather man said that today was the warmest day on record for January 28th. It is hard to believe that cold and snowy days will be here again next week We will certainly make sure and enjoy the nice weather while we have it, Marc decided to run with Eli to the park in the jogging stroller so I took Hailey in the car to meet them there. We had such a great time. Eli loves this park and it is so great that it is walking distance from our house.

I was so surprised that Eli went right up to this random dog to pet him! I know he likes dogs but I thought he would be a little more scared. I think we will have to work with him on not approaching strange dogs. Yikes! Fortunately, this one was friendly. :)

Well, both kids are sound asleep so I should probably take advantage and get to bed myself! Sometimes, I feel like "me" time is hard to find anymore and when I do find some time, sleep usually sounds a lot better. :)

Call Back Weekend

This past weekend was call back for our residency. This is a weekend in January every year where the residency's favorite applicants are invited back for a second look. We asked my parents to come help out with the kids for the weekend so Marc and I could attend most of the events on Saturday. We met lots of great people who were visiting and enjoyed listening to all the great things said about this place. It is nice to be nearing the end of residency and still feel like we have been in the best possible place for us over the past three years. We have loved it here and have made some great memories (and a few babies! Ha!) along the way. :) I think Marc has really appreciated the quality of training he has received and we are looking forward to staying one more year for the international medicine fellowship.

It was so great getting to spend some time away with Marc this weekend. Sometimes it is easy to not get away when you have two young children. Especially, when Hailey isn't old enough yet for me to leave her AND Eli with a babysitter. My parents do a great job with the kids and we are so thankful for their help. I somehow never manage to get many pictures with them and the kids when they come into town so I need to work on that one. Marc and I got dressed up on Saturday night for dinner and had a great time visiting with everyone. Not to mention enjoying our last year of hearing the faculty band! It is great to see doctors with interests outside of medicine.:)

So, now we are back in the swing of another busy week. I found this ice cream on Sunday at the grocery store and it was the perfect way to end a long Monday. Even Eli had to get his share (he ate seconds of his baked tilapia for dinner so I thought he deserved a sweet treat!). These are our favorite kind of girl scout cookies and they were delicious mixed in ice cream.

We are looking forward to dinner this week with a family who just returned from Zimbabwe, Africa doing what we will be doing next year. It is crazy to think that this time next year we will be in Africa! We are very excited about this and will certainly have more to share in the coming months. Have a great week!

Whatcha got cookin?

What do think of when you think of comfort food? If you looked it up in the dictionary, you would probably find a picture of a Paula Dean meatloaf (right next to the picture of my Memaw's chicken and dumplings!). I love meatloaf and used to feel bad about saying that in public because meatloaf just has a bad reputation.  Or it could just be that meatloaf had a bad reputation in my house growing up. Apparently it was one of the few things my mom knew how to make when she first married my dad and I guess made it a little too often. So, I don't remember eating meatloaf much as a kid because it had already been banned at that point. :) It really is so filling though and well, just comfortable. I love this recipe from Paula Dean. We ate this for dinner last night and it was delicious with some twice baked potatoes. Be careful to not pack down your meatloaf in the pan too much or it will end up really dense. Here you go! Happy dishes ya'll. :)

Paula Dean's Basic Meatloaf

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
8 ounces canned diced tomatoes (without juice)
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

Topping:
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Mix all meat loaf ingredients well and place in a baking dish. Shape into a loaf. Mix ingredients for topping and spread on loaf. Bake for 1 hour.

Hailey's New Trick

Hailey turned 3 months yesterday! She is such a happy baby. She is not as great of a sleeper as Eli was, but we are still working through that one. :)

I love her dark blue eyes..

 ...and these big smiles!

 But I am not sure...

how I feel..

 about another THUMB SUCKER!

I found her thoroughly enjoying her thumb today when her paci fell out. Eli quit taking his paci at this age and his thumb has been his best friend ever since. :)

I put up a post today from New Year's Eve since I just uploaded those pictures from our new camera. I dated it for last week to keep my posts in order but you can see that post here.

Hide and Seek

We have a new game around our house. I'm not sure where Eli learned this game but I am assuming they play it at school. Any time I try to get Eli to do something or go somewhere he runs away like a mad man screaming "Hide! Hide! Hide!" Usually, by the time I catch up to him he is turned around in a corner in his room "hiding" as if I can't see him. :) When he turns around and sees me he gets so tickled and starts laughing like crazy. This game is not fun when you are trying to leave the house to go somewhere! I am trying to teach him not to hide from mommy, but so far I haven't had any success.

Eli also likes hiding his things. If anything is missing in our house then the first place we check is inside Eli's play kitchen oven. The other day I could not find the list I had made to go to Target. I looked everywhere until I realized that Eli had probably snatched it off the coffee table. Sure enough, it was a crumpled mess inside his oven. :)

A few nights ago Eli was helping us give Hailey a bath. Eli usually shares really well with Hailey and other kids (with some gentle coaxing), but he was not excited about sharing his ducks that we had put in her bath tub with her. He snatched them out of the tub and took off running. When he didn't come right back I went looking for him. I first found him putting the ducks in his oven (where else???). He was not excited that I discovered his hiding spot so he took off with them again. He next ran into Hailey's room and hid them in her bouncy chair. He once again got mad when I found him and the ducks so I decided to leave him alone and let him do whatever he wanted with them. Shortly after he came back into the bathroom and wanted Marc to come help him with something. He took him to Hailey's diaper genie and just pointed. Marc opened the diaper genie up and this is what he found...

Four little ducks in the diaper pail and a little boy who looks so guilty confused as to how they got in there. :)

I guess he found a good hiding spot that time... maybe a little too good. :)

Family Fun

Marc had the entire weekend off! It was so great to enjoy breakfast as a family on Saturday and Sunday. I cooked both mornings because the whole family was sleeping in (well, I don't really know that I can say Hailey sleeps in yet since she still wakes up at 4 or 5 every day but she does fall back to sleep after that feeding!). On Friday night we went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. Marc and I tried their BBQ for the first time and it was delicious. We also put Eli in a booster seat for the first time at a restaurant so it was a big night! We actually brought our booster seat from home because it has a strap. Most of the restaurant booster seats we have found don't have straps and believe me, Eli still needs the strap. :) He likes the booster seat so much at home that we have put the highchair away, at least for a few months! Anyhow, we had a great time at dinner. Here are a few pictures before we left the house.

Eli is slowly starting to warm up to the camera. He now understands "show me your teeth" enough for me to get a quick picture.

Pretty, pretty princess

On Saturday, we wanted to get out of the house for a bit so we took the kids to the mall. They have an indoor kids playground that my dad and I took Eli to last month and he loved it. It was just as much fun the second time around. :)

I had to buy a few baby gifts while we were at the mall so Marc took off with Eli and I took Hailey with me. When we joined back up Eli was sporting some new eye wear that Marc had bought him from The Children's Place. He was getting so tickled about wearing his new shades!

We enjoyed some mall pizza and then headed home to put the kids to bed and watch a movie. It was a great, relaxing Saturday doing a whole lot of nothing!

Life as a Working Mom

I started back to work last week. I am working Monday through Thursday from 8 until 5. I knew it would be challenging, and I was right. :) Marc has a very busy schedule for the next four months where he has to be in the hospital for rounds by 6 am every weekday. So, that means that for the next four months I will be getting my two babies and myself ready and then getting them into daycare without any help. (Just imagine me today getting them to daycare with 3 inches of snow on the ground!) It really helps me empathize with all the single moms I see at work on a daily basis who have little to no help with their little ones. Whew! I do think that each day last week our routine got easier so I hope this week is even better. I wanted to get a picture of Hailey before her first day of "school" but by the time we were ready to leave I was already running 15 minutes behind so the best I could do was with her in her car seat. I told Eli that she was going with him to school and he seemed pretty excited. He is so sweet to Hailey. I love seeing his little personality develop. He may be wild and crazy but he sure has a tender heart for his sister...

...and she has really taken a liking to him.

They make even my busiest of mornings a great one.

I learned a few things after my first week back to work. Being a stay at home mom of two was much easier for me than being a working mom of two. It is so hard to find the time to take care of your home when you are not in your home during the day! When I was home with both kids I managed to somewhat stay on top of laundry, cleaning, and cooking. Now that I am at work all day I have realized that I can't do everything that I used to do. I am a good multitasker, but even I have to draw the line somewhere. My parents were gracious enough to offer to get us a maid service every two weeks and I am SO thankful. When they first offered this several months ago I didn't want to take them up on it because I was still in the "superwoman" state of mind. I wanted to still be all and do all for my family even with another baby. I had to surrender that idea along with my pride of not wanting help and I feel much less stress as a result. (Thanks mom and dad!)

I have also had to tone down our meals and settle for more simple dinner ideas. Last week we had taco soup for two nights and then a cheesy chicken casserole dish. I prepared both of these meals the night before after the kids went to sleep so I just had to heat them back up when I got home from work. This week we are having poppy seed chicken and a pot roast. I really enjoy being in the kitchen so it is hard for me to not be able to prepare something exciting all the time. Marc is grateful for whatever I make so I have to remind myself that these expectations are only things that I put on myself.

Amid the morning chaos, I was somehow able to spend a little time doing my bible study every morning and it really helped me keep things in perspective last week. I have been challenged lately with all these life changes in what I find my identity and purpose in. Beth Moore's study Breaking Free (the revised version) has been a wonderful study for me to do right now and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new study.

Well, I finally (after a month!) have my computer back so I plan on getting a post up tomorrow with some weekend pictures. Have a great Monday and stay warm!

New Year's Eve

It is funny how different your life is once you have children. :) Different in a good way though! This year on New Year's Eve we went out to eat as a family for pizza at one of our favorite pizza places. Marc dropped me off with Hailey to wait for our table while he and Eli went to pick out our movie. It worked out great because by the time they got back I was already seated at the table and had appetizers on their way. Eli does so much better at restaurants if there is food in front of him immediately! He just doesn't enjoy coloring with the little crayons they give him much at all so we sometimes have to beg our waitresses to bring us food even if it is just crackers. :)

Eli had to get in a little riding time before dinner. He loves wearing his hat from his Halloween costume while riding his horse. :)

Happy New Year Hailey June!

Marc and I are not big champagne people but we do LOVE Welch's sparkling grape juice for toasting. I wanted Eli to have something fun to drink so I let him try some before we put him to bed. He hasn't had anything carbonated yet except maybe a sip of a limeade from Sonic. I think the fizz and tingle shocked him!

Letting it roll to the back of his throat. Ha!

I don't think he wanted seconds...

After we put Eli to sleep, Marc and I watched a movie and Hailey enjoyed sleeping in Marc's arms. We finished our movie just before midnight but forgot to turn the TV on to watch the ball drop. I did get my New Year's Eve kiss though. :) We took some pictures with the camera timer.

These pictures were all from our new camera! It is really easy to use and takes great pictures. I think REALLY great pictures still require the camera operator to know what he/she is doing so I plan on working on that some in the coming months. :)

Christmas in Arkansas- Part 3

So, I realized yesterday that I was just one post shy of my 100 posts goal for 2010! So close. Something tells me that this year I might be typing fewer posts. :)

Well, back to the holidays. Since Marc and I have been married we alternate the major holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, with our families. This is really the only way to do it since our families live over eight hours apart. So, this year we spent all of Christmas with my family. Christmas Day has always been a whirlwind for my family because we spend much of the day traveling on the road trying to see everyone in our extended families. I really don't like all the road time, but it is so much fun once we get to each destination. Our first stop this year was to Little Rock where we had lunch with my mom's side of the family.

I must have been too busy eating bon bons and fudge because this was the only picture I got during our time in Little Rock. It is a sweet one though. This is my Pappaw holding Hailey for the first time. :) My aunt had all of my Pappaw's war medals put in a shadow box for Christmas and I think it meant a lot to him. He got tears in his eyes when he opened it. It was special seeing the pride he has for his years of service in the army.

After we left Little Rock we headed further south to a small little town where my dad grew up. I actually lived there for my first four years of life. Marc LOVES it at Memaw and Poppy's but he always jokes that if I had grown up there for my whole life I would be a true country bumpkin with a strong southern twang. Ha!

Eli had fun opening up even more presents. He would get so excited when he saw something wrapped. It was hard to convince him sometimes that not every present was for him.

Hailey was certainly the center of attention everywhere we went. She sure made it in a lot of our pictures! I think mostly because she was the only child who would be still enough for me to get her picture. Eli was far too interested in all his new toys for pictures. :)

Well, that is it! I am officially caught up with our Christmas posts. And not a day to soon since I start back to work tomorrow. The challenging days are ahead now that I  am working full-time and continuing to carry on the roles of wife and mother of two. Whew! It wears me out just thinking about it but I know we will manage just fine. :) I think my crock pot is about to see some real action in the coming months. Ha!

Christmas in Arkansas- Part 2

It is now 2011 and I am still playing catch-up on Christmas posts! Almost there. :) We had a great time Christmas Eve with my family. We started off the night by attending the early candlelight service at my parents' church. My mom gave Eli and Hailey some cute Christmas outfits and they both looked adorable all dressed up.

Eli did pretty well during the service. I think Marc only had to take him out once when he started getting a little rowdy. I was glad we were able to enjoy most of the service together as a family! After we got home from church we ate lots of yummy food, changed into our new PJs, and then opened up gifts. My parents got us a new camera that will be great for taking pictures of the kids and for our time in Africa next year (I will share more on that in a few weeks!).

Eli loved all of his presents. Our house is now covered in toys! You can tell our families love these kids very much. :)

 Papa D enjoyed lots of time with Hailey. She did so well with everyone holding her all weekend. It really gave me a break since up until now she has been a BIG mama's girl and would fuss if other people held her when she was getting tired. :)

It was great being home and getting to enjoy some of our holiday traditions. It is amazing how this time of year brings back so many memories for me of when I was a little kid. :) I love it!