{21 Months}

Today a certain little lady is 21 months old!

Do you know how close that is to two???

Crazy.  I do not feel ready for that.  She still seems so little to me but every day she is learning and growing and changing and I know that one of these days I am going to look at her and realize she is a full-blown toddler.  I do not feel ready for that, either!

Still, time marches on and I'm grateful for all the progress and changes.  She is becoming so strong, and she is so determined to do things that I don't think walking is that far away.  She is climbing, letting go of us to stand alone for a few seconds, crawling like a champ, and communicating her wants and needs in a big way these days!  Little Miss is pretty feisty, let me tell ya!

Since today we are celebrating being another month older I thought I'd share a little video of our sweet girl.  She is so funny!  Please excuse the annoying mom voice behind the camera...sometimes I forget how loud I am when I'm taking a video :)

*Hello Spring!*

We really,

really,

really

LOVE

spring!!!!

And we hope it's here to stay!

Handing Them Off is the Hardest Part

Little Miss Hannah had a big day - and an early start!  We left the house around 5:45am this morning (ouch!) and headed to the nearby children's hospital.  Hannah was scheduled to have an ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) which is a type of hearing test.  She had to be sedated for the test and even though this is our fifth time having one of our kids sedated I still woke up with butterflies.  

Thankfully, Hannah was a total rock star and everything went just fine!  She didn't cry at all during the check-in stuff (usually she screams!) and she did well waking up as well.

Just a couple of pictures of our little peanut before the test:

Even though she had had some "happy medicine" she started to cry as they carried her away.  Thankfully she was loopy enough that sticking her blanket in her hands was enough to calm her down. I wish someone had stuck a blankie in my hands, too!  I hate the hand-off.  Still, Brad and I enjoy a very short date in the nearby cafeteria before heading back to see our girlie.  Everything went great and we learned that she does in fact having at least one working cochlea/nerve (the audiologist said that with Microtia she has not seen a patient have just one working cochlea so Hannah should be fine on both sides) and she will be getting set up with a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid) soon!  I'm so excited to get my little girl hearing.  I only hope she doesn't throw up the first time we put it on her like Nathan did... :)

I Hate Coming Up With Titles For Blog Posts

It's been a pretty good week around here so far.  Well, except for the super grouchy Mommy that has emerged due to the lack of sleep.  I have really struggled with having patience with the kids and with not being annoyed with just about everything and I know it is just because I'm tired.  Still, as I often tell the kids, being sick or tired does not mean you get to be unkind.  I seem to be having a hard time learning that lesson and I'm thankful for the grace that God (and my family) continues to show me. 

Things that help the grouchiness...

1.  Leaving the house!  We took a trip to the park one day after Brad got home from work and it was just what I needed.  The boys have SO much energy and it is sometimes hard to make sure they get enough opportunities to burn it up!  Hannah was super happy to ride on Daddy's back :)

Matthew loves riding his tricycle and is ready for a big boy bike.  It is crazy to see how much he has grown from last summer.  He's not a baby anymore - at all!

Nathan loves riding on this scooter that used to be my little sister's!  He's really getting the hang of it and can get going pretty fast.

Love these boys!

2.  Something else that makes me happy - teaching the boys how to do chores!  We make the kids pick up toys, put clothes away, that kind of stuff, but they are getting old enough to really start helping with things and I am for sure going to take advantage of that!  They both took a turn and vacuumed the living room very well.  Love it!

3.  I love bringing out old (new to them) toys and seeing how excited they are!  This is a toy that my sisters and I all loved and I'm so glad my parents saved it.  We brought it out a while ago but the boys weren't old enough for it yet - it turned out to just be work for Brad and I!  This time though, we showed them what to do and they went to town!  Matthew build a cart all by himself and was so excited.  Such a great toy!

4.  Little boys in pajamas - favorite!  The boys love playing games and watching things on the Ipad.  Sometimes a little bit of silence is just beautiful :)  Nathan just might be the loudest kid I've ever met.  He's enthusiastic about life, that's for sure!

5.  Smiles from this little one always make me happy.  We continue to struggle with sleep (I am really hoping its just teething and that we'll be doing better soon) but the days just go so well.  Sometimes Hannah is still very clingy but she is happy and adorable and doing so well.  She had her first physical therapy session yesterday and we have some good exercises to work on to keep building up those muscles!

On Friday, Hannah will be having a sedated ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) at a nearby children's hospital.  I hate it when my kids have to be put under :(  But it will give our audiologist more information and checks out the hearing nerve pathways from the ear to the brainstem.  After this is completed we hope she will be fitted with a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid that will be worn on a soft headband) which should improve her hearing into the normal range!  

Because They Want To Eat Dinner EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!

I know, the audacity, right?! :)  I have a family who wants to eat dinner every night!  I was on such a roll with the freezer meals, and I may go back to that at some point, but for right now I haven't had big blocks of time to shop and prepare them.  I have been struggling to find time to meal plan, make a shopping list, and go shopping every week or two.  I find that we are just eating the same thing every week!  So this weekend I thought it was time for a change.

None of these ideas are new, but I thought I'd share because I think I have found something that will make life easier for me, and because sometimes it's fun to see what other people do.  I'm a total nerd and love organizing, charts, and tables :)  So for me this is a perfect fit!

May I introduce you to my meal binder...

It. Is. Awesome.  I have been working on it for a while, adding recipes and making sure that everything in it is something we like to eat and is safe for Matthew.  And it just got better.

On Friday, I sat down and wrote out all the meals that we really like to eat.  I added in some that we love but don't eat very often (like some Korean dishes that I don't often remember to buy ingredients for).  I organized it by category - Mexican, Crock Pot Meals, Italian/Other, Easy Meals, Pizza/Leftovers, Asian Food, and Soup/Sandwiches.  I thought this might make it easier to plan and also help us to have a bigger variety of meals each week.

Next, I made a table and started plugging in meals.  I tried to make it so that we weren't eating chicken four nights in a row.  Then I added side dishes underneath the main dish.  Pretty soon, I had six weeks worth of meals without any repeating!

From there, I decided to create shopping lists for each week so that I don't have to look up the recipes and make sure I have everything before my shopping trip.  I've decided to try to shop weekly (right now I go every two weeks) since we are eating so much more produce these days.  I looked at each recipe and compiled a list that I can reference when I make my shopping list each week.

The next part was the most time consuming (it only took one evening but I have had to update it a little as I realized I was missing things).  I made a printable shopping list with a list of the foods we buy most often.  I always shop at the same store in the same order so I tried to put things in the order of the store (I always shop from the back of the store to the front).  This way I can just keep this on the fridge, check off what I need and how many I need, and then take this week me to the store.  I think it will help me to write it down when something runs out and also will give me ideas of things I may want to buy.

I have printed off several copies of the shopping list and store them in a clear pocket in the front of the binder.  Behind that I have my recipes.

I have to say, it is a lot more work now that we're not eating as many processed foods, but I feel like it's worth it!  Brad just had his cholesterol checked and it has come down almost 100 points!!!!!  Just from us eating better.  Amazing.  I need to do more baking and freezing so that we have snacks and breakfast foods on hand, so that is my goal this week.  I really hope this new system will lighten the load when it comes to meal planning and shopping.  I'll let you know in a few weeks how it is working out!

Two Months Home!

It is hard to believe that just over two months ago we stepped off the plane after a looooong trip home from China with our beautiful daughter!  The time has gone by so quickly and Hannah's adjustment to our family (and us to her!) has gone so much more smoothly than I had anticipated.  When I think of the changes she has been through in the last two months and how well she has done, I am amazed.  God has answered countless prayers, big and small, and we are so thankful that she is ours!

It is funny to think of the words I would have used to describe Hannah when we first met her...

...quiet

...content

...calm

...good sleeper (HA!)

This little sweetie is coming alive!  Now the words I would use to describe her are...

...active!

...BUSY!

...curious

...energetic

She is on the move from the moment she wakes up until the moment she falls asleep!  It is amazing to see the strength in her little body now.  She crawls like a champ.  She can pull up to standing almost anywhere.  She walks along the furniture and still does her adorable little bum scoot when she's in a hurry to get somewhere.  She looks out the front window and yells at cars while waving at them as they go by.  She gets mad when she can't have her way.  She frantically signs "tub" every night after dinner (and every time we get near the bathroom!).  She is an absolute delight!

The only difficult aspect has been sleep, but it seems we are making headway in this area as well.  I was starting to feel a bit like a zombie from all the wake-ups but the last two nights have been just wonderful, with only one or two brief crying spells that stop immediately when I pick her up.  I'm so thankful that she is finding more and more comfort in our arms.  We certainly love holding her!  Nearly every time I go out with all three I get the comment, "You sure have your hands full!".  True enough - and I'm so thankful!