New residents...

Spring is here and I love all the green and flowers popping up. Its amazing how the brown barren ground and trees can bring forth so much beauty. God made such an amazing circle of life that no one else could design.

Amongst the green and flowers, birds are chirping away building nests. One little bird family has found its niche right on our front door! We have a flower door hanger with fake flowers in it. A couple weeks ago, I kept seeing birds working and realized they were making a nest on the door. Even cooler, the hanger is in front of the window so if you are sitting on the far end of the couch, you can see the nest perfectly. We thankfully don't use this door too much, because they are skittish once you walk up to the door.

But I can't wait to watch the growth of this little family. AND feel it is so cool the timing of our little family growing along with this bird family. We can be up all night together! Well, not sure the birds sleep all night anyway.

(Momma/Daddy bird staying back since I am lurking behind the door)

Our most important new little resident will be here before we know it. Ansley's due date is April 25th! Can't believe it myself, I feel its gone fast yet seems I have been hearing, talking, and learning about her for so long. I am anxious about "the change" our family is about to experience. I want to enjoy it so much, and for Garyn to enjoy it! That is the part I feel will be the most unpredictable. I hope I just hold it together and not put too many expectations on "the change."  We are talking a lot about his role as a big brother with all the advantages it has! He seems to like talking about how he can help and definitely wants to hold her.

(Garyn with his big brother shirt)

That being said, I know we will be fine and adjust with time. Just like every other family!
Here is the latest pic of our little girl. I am beginning to think she is going to constantly stick her tongue out or be smacking her lips. She has had her tongue out and been working that mouth in most of the ultrasounds. Last week, Dr. Brody got a  picture of her in the act:

(This is all her face: forehead-eyes-nose-fat cheeks-and a tongue sticking out. Do you see it? She looks like a chubby thing with a big nose! Garyn thinks it is funny that she has her tongue stuck out. )

I just can't wait to see what her personality is like. Nana, also born in April, says that according to her sign, she will be strong willed. Speaking of being born in April, we have several family members with birthdays in April. We'll see if Ansley has her own date or shares it with a relative!

(This is from 2 weeks ago now, Garyn took it before I went to work one night)

Back to nesting, it has begun inside the house, as well as on the front door. All the home projects and bedroom changes going on has gotten me frantic to get settled! Tyler is in full swing with baseball so it has been mind boggling for him to find time to finish the things I can not do. Well, let me say mind boggling for me. He keeps wondering what the rush is! However, he is on spring break this week and getting a lot done. So I have high hopes for finally being done with the big stuff! Then I can move on to the little details like getting the playroom re situated and Garyn's room reorganized (with his bunk beds!). All of this coming second to finishing the nursery! :)

Other than nesting, I am sleeping less; having more heartburn; going to the bathroom at least hourly; and getting out of breathe and tired more. Its all worth it though!

So how is your spring popping up?!

Freezer cooking recap....

Last week, I finally was able to do some freezer cooking. I haven't had many Tuesdays free which is when Garyn is at mother's day out. I am either working the night before or have had doctor's appointments.

I got a good bit done, but not as much as I originally wanted. I also had a major flop trying a new recipe.

I have been wanting to make some type of pizza pockets and I got this recipe from a kids-meal-ideas website. First off, they were really small, so after making a few I made the circles bigger. And then you couldn't put much filling in or else they overflowed. Then I cooked them. As you can see the filling spilled out and the crust is dry having a strong corn meal taste (corn meal is the main ingredient). I just don't think they will get eaten. I threw out all but the ones that weren't overflowing. Oh well, I'll try a different recipe next time.

I did try some new burritos and they are good! I made the normal Brown Bag Burritos and some chicken burritos that I made up along the way. Basically, they have everything the Mexican Chicken Casserole has in it. Rice, shredded chicken, rotel tomatoes, corn, black beans, cheese and salsa. I let all this simmer together a little while and then rolled them up just like the brown bags. I did add some sour cream when rolling up but stopped because it was just melting from the heat and I worried about freezing and then reheating it.

I also made the Mexican Chicken Casserole which as usual I divided into 2 separate dinners. Then I tried money saving mom's brown sugar twists. I like them but will add more sugar and cinnamon next time. They aren't quite sweet enough for us. But are great dipped in honey!



I also froze some cooked ground hamburger meat and shredded chicken for use in other meals. So here is the final tally:

2 Mexican Chicken Casseroles
10 Brown Bag Burritos
10 Chicken Burritos
bag of shredded chicken
not pictured:
bag of cooked ground beef
20 brown sugar biscuit twists
and a few pizza empandas

I may try to have a smaller freezer day in the next couple weeks. I had some meat recipes I wanted to try that are just marinated or somehow prepared meats to add sides to when making dinner. We'll see if I can get some more stocked away before Ansley comes! Less than 7 weeks until my due date!

March goals

Fun:
-Enjoy the month with life as I know it now, it is all about to change! No sleep, more responsibilities, more laundry.....but a new little life to love and hold, as well!
-Have one date night
-Do as many things outside with Garyn as weather permits!

DIY/Craft:
-I have lots of painting to do for Ansley's room...finish baby bed, start changing table, and possibly paint a dresser
-Help Tyler with deck/french door project as much as possible
-Paint Ansley's name sign
-Paint Easter door hanger with Garyn that I bought last year on sale

Cooking:
-possibly do a small freezer cooking day
-continue to cook/ eat at home all but what we budget for

Cleaning:
-try to keep cleaning habits up so that I feel the house is basically clean
-finish cleaning out anything that will not stay in Ansley's room
-wash new clothes and bassinet bedding for Ansley

Teaching/Learning:
-keep working with Garyn on writing his name
-work on counting to 30 without any glitches
-keep looking at preschools

Budgeting:
-tally up Jan. and Feb. expenses for next years tax deductions
-stay on top of budget and weekly cash flow
-start saving for beach trip

Prayer/Devotion:
-Continue morning quiet time
-Keep prioritizing devotion/Bible reading

Other:
-wash and take dogs yearly shots!
-take JBF sale items
-wash and list cups for eBay and anything else I may find

Complete vs. Incomplete

My, February is over?! I know it is the shortest month but it seemed even shorter....time just doesn't slow down so you would think we would be accustomed to it but we aren't, are we?

The internet has been down lately with the storm so I am finally tallying the goals of February and to quickly post them I am listing them in a completed and uncompleted fashion...

Complete:

-Had a great Valentines with my husband. We went to P.F. Changs and saw the movie "Unknown" which turned out really good (But we did this the weekend after Valentines and Tyler was unusually disturbed that I did nothing special on the actual day which I never really saw him that day because of working)

-Had a wonderful time at the Women's Retreat last weekend

-We ate with some friends a couple different times once at their house and once at ours without the hubby's

-Tyler loved his Honduras trip which also makes me happy

-We spent so much time playing Wii games, not sure if that's a great thing or not, but Garyn has loved every minute of it.

-Garyn and I have also spent a good amount of time with learning, he is getting better at writing his name and even wanted to write it this morning at MOPS, he needs lots of help, but I am proud that we got that far in a month.

-Finished cleaning out Garyn's clothes that he could not wear anymore

-Housework has been easier since I have kept it routine to clean a bathroom or mop each day rather than letting it buildup

-I had a Freezer day yesterday, which is technically March but I'm counting it! lol!

-I got the baby bed sanded and started painting it, I also think I have the dresser thing solved

-Did all I could do to the master bath and blogged on it! Yea, one more project done!

-Tyler began the french door/deck project and it has gone smoothly so far!

-I have researched some preschools & think I have chosen one, but still going to look at a couple more

-Prayer study is almost done, it has been great, and devotion time has been a lot more of a priority for me!
  This past weekend at the women's retreat helped me to make it even more of a priority.

-Budgeting has gone good, I like having the limits for shopping. We are still saving but nothing has really been set aside for the vacation yet

-I have worked on the JBF items

-Garyn has an appt for the dentist! We will see how that goes!

-Sold 4 items on Ebay, nothing big but its better than them sitting in the basement!

Incomplete:

-I didn't get the dresser cleaned off

-Did not paint Ansley's name sign

-Did not hang the pictures or the mirror in the hall

-I didn't get to reading any of the books suggested at MOPS...not sure when that will get done

-Still haven't made appt for dogs, really need to do this before Ansley is born!

-We had lunch at home a lot, unsure if I really kept options for Tyler, he is a little pickier and can't do much more than use a microwave when at school


Be on the lookout for March goals tomorrow...