Chocolate

Because sometimes...  When a difficult day ends crappier than you anticipated it would...

Sometimes you just need chocolate.  Maybe the whole box.  (Or maybe not, since I still would like to lose the extra pregnancy pounds...)

And that's really all I have to say about that.

What are you grateful for today?

My Baby Girl's (Fourth) Cold

No, I'm not a masochist.

When I said yesterday that I wasn't exactly grateful for her (fourth) cold in 3 months, I wasn't lying.

Because colds (in babies) are incredibly frustrating to me for a couple reasons:

1.  I feel bad for my munchkin who can't breathe through her nose.  And therefore has a hard time drinking a bottle.  And also therefore cannot self-soothe and put herself to sleep with her thumb.  And when she's tired and frustrated because of those things, it's just so sad!

2.  It usually means I will not get good sleep, since she won't.

In a word, colds are just frustrating.  I know I don't enjoy them when I have them.  And it's even worse when the baby girl has them.  (Probably worse for me than her, since she's mellower than I am and is better at going with the flow.)  

And last night proved to be a night of less sleep.

And I'm no saint.  I will admit that, at 3:30 this morning, when I heard our angel groaning from her room (because she couldn't put herself back to sleep by sucking her thumb), I was a little frustrated at loss of sleep.  Especially when she started full-out crying when I started rocking her to help her sleep.  I knew it would be a long "night."  

But then, I had an attitude adjustment.  Because here's the thing:  now that my sweet girl is mobile and able to do so much, she wants to.  And she's gotten to where, even going down for a nap, she doesn't want me to snuggle her... she just wants me to put her in her crib so she can roll on her side, suck her thumb, and go to sleep.  So only at night, after her last bottle, do I ever get to snuggle her anymore.  And it's usually only 5 or so minutes, because I know there are still Mommy chores awaiting me.  But who does those at 3:30 in the morning?

But at 3:30 in the morning, my precious baby is tired.  And she wants to sleep.  And when she can't, she wants comfort.  And so she wants her mommy to snuggle her.  And so, for an hour this morning, I sat and rocked my baby girl.  Who was willing to lie contentedly in my arms and let me snuggle her.  So my attitude changed from one of frustration to one of gratitude.

And once again, I realized what really matters.  Because one day, I will be done having babies.  One day, my babies will be grown.  And I'll get all the sleep I need -- and all the sleep I want.  And I won't have a baby to snuggle and rock.  The time for snuggling and rocking is now.  And while I don't wish for her to have a cold every day of her babyhood...  I am learning that I can find the joy in even the undesirable things of life.

Because it is a joy to rock my girl.  To hold her.  To look in amazement at this long body that was once so much shorter.  It is a joy to look at her sweet face and to feel her breath against my neck as she sleeps.  It is a joy to feel her wiggle and sit up and burrow until she finds a comfortable spot.   It is a joy to have that extra hour where it's just me and her, gently gliding in the warmth of her room.

It is a joy no hour of sleep could give me.

And so I'm grateful for this cold that is a bit of unpleasant generally.  Because it reminded me to cherish the moments that will one day be gone forever.  Because it gave me a heart-full of joy in the form of middle-of-the-night snuggles with my sweetest baby girl.

And maybe that was a lesson I just needed to learn.

What are you grateful for today?

(Fancy) Burp Rags

In the world of things that get underappreciated, I'm pretty sure burp rags reside. 

But I am incredibly grateful for them!  (And I love, love, love that we were given so many cute ones as baby gifts!!!).  Much thanks to several very talented friends!

Yes, most babies spit up.  This is why people get burp rags. 

Our little girl, though, may have been a marathon spitter-upper.  I'm pretty sure the poor thing suffered from reflux the first several months of life -- including her incredibly low tolerance for air bubbles in her tummy.  So we went through burp rags really fast back in those days.  I would say at least 3 a day.

Let's just say, even if we never had to use the burp rags again after she passed the reflux problem age (somewhere around 5 months), our burp rags still would qualify as "well used." 

But of course, we still use burp rags for the occasional spit up (these days more on the rug than anywhere else, since she's mobile). 

Today, however, it dawned on me that there has been one other time when we've gone through burp rags like in the early days of munchkin's life:  when she has a cold.  Because, gross as it may be to mention, she has a lot of snot!  (How can so much fit into that tiny baby?!?)  And so we use the burp rags again to clean her nose.  Because they are handy and washable. 

Why did this occur to me today?  Well, because Baby Girl woke up from her second nap today with total congestion.  And I've been using the burp rags ever since... 

And though I am in no way grateful for our 4th cold in 3 months (ironically, I just emailed a friend that she'd had three and thankfully seems to be in the clear...), I am grateful for the lovely burp rags that help us keep a certain little nose booger-drip free :).

What are you grateful for today?

Sue C

Most Tuesdays (assuming Baby Girl is not sick), I walk with Sue in the evenings.  Even when it's freezing out and it starts snowing (like it did tonight).  Fortunately, my husband is back on day shift, so I left the munchkin with him... It was way too cold for her.  Otherwise I take her, because she enjoys outings.  In fact, often, when Sue calls to see about walking, she asks if the baby wants to walk today.  As though it's all up to her!  (And, okay, maybe it is!)

Anyway, Sue is awesome.  I met her while I was working at a local funeral home.  She has a great laugh and the best sense of humor!  I love walking with her, because we just gab about all sorts of stuff and she hoots and laughs a lot.  And I do too!  Today what got her going was the story about the munchkin managing to eat (and destroy) one of my plants.  I don't have many plants, as I don't do well with taking care of them, generally.  But I was trying to keep this one alive.  Alas...  A crawling baby can do much damage in mere seconds.  Thankfully this plant was not poisonous.  It's also no longer alive, having been ripped out of its dirt by some grabby hands.  So as I told Sue all about this, she laughed and laughed and laughed. 

I walked with Sue once a week even when I was 36 weeks pregnant.  I think it was starting to make her a little nervous... the possibility I might go into labor.  She told my mom to keep her cell phone on her at all times on Tuesday evenings, because if I went into labor, Sue would be calling my mom to come pick us up! 

Ironically, Baby Girl was born on Sue's birthday!  Which is exactly what Sue (and another friend of ours, whose birthday is also that day) predicted!  We didn't name her Pamela Sue after these two awesome ladies...  But even so, the munchkin gets to share their birthday :).

She's patient and kind and, I think, a great example of living what she believes:  she strives to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. 

She's also incredibly thoughtful.  This past Christmas, she went to several stores trying to find little baby mittens for our sweetness so she would have mittens for our cold-weather walks.  And they are the cutest!!


I think one of my most favorite memories about Sue is from my days working at the funeral home.  So, there was this funeral home cat named Callie.  She was a gorgeous long-haired Calico.  And she was snarky.  Snarky.  She'd chill and sleep at the top of the stairs in the funeral home (until a stranger walked in and then she'd bolt).  She knew staff going up and down the stairs couldn't not pet her there.  And while she enjoyed the love immensely, she was sometimes moody.  You could be there petting her and she'd be purring away when all of a sudden -- wham! -- she'd claw you like there was no tomorrow.  Crazy cat. 

But that's not the hilarious Sue story...  This is:

Sue was Callie's stylist.  I kid not.  Every day at about 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., Callie would mosey on down the stairs and go right to Sue's work space.  Where Sue would spend about 5 minutes brushing that cat until she shone.  It was awesome.  Every single day.  No joke.

Oh, and the other one...  We had a co-worker who ate that Activia yogurt every day.  All the commercials talk about how good it is for a woman's digestive system (or at least they did back then).  Well, this co-worker was a man.  So Sue started telling him that he was eating women's yogurt.  (She liked to give him a hard time anyway, so this was nothing new.  But hilarious nonetheless).  He was adamant that it wasn't just for women, but Sue kept saying it was and pointed out how the commercials never showed men eating it.  Well, this got his goat enough that he actually called Activia to ask them if their yogurt was intended only for women, or if men could eat it as well.  Shortly thereafter, the commercials started saying it wasn't just for women.  I'm not saying there was a connection between the two...  But it is a pretty funny coincidence. 

Anyway, I have a ton of great and hilarious memories with Sue.  I'm glad we still live close enough to each other that we can still enjoy walking together every week.  She makes walking quite a bit of fun. 

What are you grateful for today?

The Sewing Machine

I mentioned that I am working on a couple of "I Spy" quilts.  And today I started sewing pieces together!  Yay!

Makes me totally grateful for sewing machines.  And for having one in my home right now.  And for having a husband who has sewn more than I have.  And who has the patience to figure out how this one works (it has a bazillion stitch options).  And who has the patience to teach me how to use this particular one. 

12 hexagons down...  Only 254 more to go!  Woohoo!  Constant dripping hollows out the stone, you know ;).

What are you grateful for today?

The Plan of Salvation

Today at church, my Sunday School class discussed the Plan of Salvation.

Interestingly enough, it was also Fast and Testimony Sunday, which means that members of the congregation are invited to share their testimonies at the pulpit if they desire to.  Several of the testimonies borne were about the Plan of Salvation.  I don't believe in coincidence. 

I do know that there are many different beliefs and religions in this world.  My life has been blessed by many good people from many different faiths.  These, though, are my beliefs and the things I believe to be true.  They have helped me understand who I am, why I am here, and where I will go after I die.  And to have that knowledge gives me peace.

I am grateful to know I existed before this life.  Though I was a spirit, I was still me.  I know I am a daughter of Heavenly Father literally, because He is the Father of my spirit.  And as such, I have within me a divine nature.  What a beautiful truth.

I am grateful to know I chose to follow the plan of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ; which was to come to this earth and receive a body so that I may come to know through my own experience the things I could only experience through having a body.  Such as the joy I feel in holding my baby girl.  The happiness I feel at lifting and helping another.  I am grateful to know I have agency -- the right to choose for myself -- and that, as I make righteous choices and strive to follow my Savior's example, I am on the path to return back to the presence of my Father in Heaven.

I am grateful to know that, though mortal life does end at death, not all life does.  I know my spirit will continue to exist.  And that one day, just as Jesus Christ was resurrected, I will be too.  And my spirit and body will be reunited again, never again to be separated.

I am grateful to know that, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I can be forgiven for mistakes I make and sins I commit.  That I can be healed after pains inflicted, intentionally or unintentionally, upon me.  And that, as I strive to be like my Savior, I can have the hope of living with Him and Heavenly Father and my family in the Celestial Kingdom forever.  I am grateful to know families can be forever.  And that Heavenly Father's greatest desire is to have all of His children return to Him.  And I am grateful to know that we are all His children -- we are all brothers and sisters.  And that each of us is of infinite worth because we are His.

What are you grateful for today?

Macaroni and Cheese

I don't know who decided to boil up pasta and slather it in cheese sauce, but that person was a genius.  In no uncertain terms.

I love macaroni and cheese.  Love it.

And I'm not really a mac and cheese snob as far as boxed versus home-made.  I like both.  Although I am a snob for brand name...  I only buy Kraft brand.  And in the last year, I've pretty much only gotten the blue box kind...  Because of the sodium content in the Velveeta Shells and Cheese (which is otherwise my favorite box-macaroni and cheese).  Not that I'm saying the blue box is low in sodium... It isn't.  But it is lower.  I pretty much buy a box of mac and cheese most pay periods.  So I have it for lunch usually once every two weeks. 

On the home-made front... I love my mom's mac and cheese.  Always have.  We had it for dinner tonight.  And yeah, it's way better when my mom makes it (probably because someone else made it ;)).  But I think I still do a fair job -- just have to do the work!  The recipe is relatively easy.  My mom has been known to use whatever cheese she has on hand.  Sometimes it doesn't come out so awesome.  So I never do that.  I always use the 3 cheeses called for in the recipe.  Which is as follows:

1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 to 2 cloves minced (or pressed) garlic
1/2 a medium onion, diced
1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup milk
3 cups shredded cheese (approximately):  cheddar, Monterey Jack, and parmesan (amounts of each to your liking, but I usually go shy on the Parmesan and heavier on the other two); divided

In a saucepan, melt butter.  Saute onions and garlic about 2 minutes (or until onion is tender).  Whisk in flour and stir until well-mixed (mixture will be lumpy due to onion and garlic).  Add salt and pepper.  Add milk gradually and stir.  Bring to a boil.  Boil 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Reserve about 1/4 cup mixed cheese.  Add the remaining cheese to the white sauce and stir until melted.  Stir in macaroni until well mixed.

Put macaroni and cheese into a greased casserole dish.  Bake covered at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.  Sprinkle reserved cheese on top and bake uncovered an additional 10 minutes. 

And then it's done!  Enjoy!

I've been trying a few others that I've found on pinterest.  So far I haven't found one that knocks my socks off...  And one I will be trying soon, which I collected in my recipe binder some time who-knows-when. 

Yes, I love macaroni and cheese.  It's good comfort food.  Filling.  And delicious.  And I'm so grateful for it...  and the genius who thought it up!!

What are you grateful for today?